The Paths We Take
by XIIIth Hazard
Summary: (Part: 4) – Trained in the art of Ninjutsu, now the turtles must see if they're skilled enough to use what they have learned. Turtle-Verse/Alternate Dimension. (Sequel: to 'The Lives We Live.')
1. Prologue

If you're _starting_ here you're going to be very confused, so go ahead and check out my profile page for a list.

I'm returning to my original way of writing so anything to do with Donnie personally will remain in his point of view ( _Donnie's POV_ ) while Raph, Leo, Mikey and anyone else will be in third person ( _3rd:_ )

I find it's easier to write like this now that I'm focusing on their missions.

I hope everyone is still enjoying my world; for here is Part 4

* * *

 _The Paths We Take_

Prologue:

( _Donnie's_ _POV_ )

Year 11 – Age 15

I couldn't help but jump when lighting struck yet again quickly followed by the thunder. "It's right over us." I informed my brothers as I counted the seconds between the raging of the storm before heading back up the steep incline to pack another sand bag down to the swiftly over-flowing river.

"That lighting rod thing will hold, right?" Mikey asked nervously before ducking as said phenomenon split the sky again.

"Yeah." I answered once I could be heard over the boom. "It'll hold."

"This is nuts." Raph stated miserably; throwing the 4 sand bags he had hauled over onto the shore. "It's gonna rain more today than the last 12 years _combined_." He reported.

"Let's hope not." Leo proclaimed dropping his own bags before heading back for more.

"Leonardo!" A voice suddenly called and we quickly looked around for the source to eventually locate it in the form of another ninja we had come to know as _Takeo_.

"What?" Leo asked him distractedly while simultaneously throwing another bag over his shoulder to climb back down the hill.

"Bring your team." The man ordered. "You've been summoned."

"What's going on?" Our leader asked calling off the sand-bagging escapade as he led the way back up the hill.

"Yeah; we're kind a _busy_ here." Raph proclaimed sourly as he followed. "If ya haven't _noticed_?"

"An emergency on the coast." Takeo declared over the thunder. " _Lives_ could depend on it." He added seriously which immediately got our attention.

…

 _Takeo ~_ _Strong like bamboo_

…

"Sensei." Leo stated as we arrived dripping wet in the main hall where 4 of the 6 elders crowded around awaiting our arrival.

"My sons." Splinter answered waving us over to where Ichi stood trying to calm an old man in a fit of hysterics.

"Leonardo." The tiger mutant said as we joined the group. "We had expected to test you and your team _later_ ; but I'm afraid _fate_ has spoken first."

"What happened?" I asked quietly; realizing quickly that he was talking about our Jounin test which we were supposed to perform in the coming week.

"A ship capsized in Ise Bay." Ichi explained seriously. "We're still receiving a distress signal but the sea is too rough to attempt a rescue. But you four are _specialized_ for the water; do you think you could reach them?"

"Please!" The old man at his side suddenly added and my brothers and I quietly turned to look at him. "My _son_ is on that ship." He stated shakily obviously at the point of tears. "He's all I have left, _please_ help him!" He begged.

The man's plea ate at our hearts as we turned to Leo for his call. "How far to the bay Donnie?" He asked immediately.

"40 minutes." I reported after only a second of thought. "I can track the signal when they're in the water."

Leo simply nodded before turning to us with a purposeful look. "We leave in two; get your gear."

…

The four of us immediately separated to locate what we would need for the mission upon entering our home. I had only to stop at my room where I quickly located my newest project; a silver gantlet which looked like any ordinary piece of armor but in reality had _countless_ purposes.

Strapping the thing to my left arm I simultaneously grabbing my water-proof first-aid kit and booked it back toward the front door where Leo and Mikey were already waiting and Raph arrived a full second later as we quickly ran back out into the storm where Splinter, Ichi and the old man waited to see us off.

It took only a second for me to copy the distress call's signal and I nodded toward Leo who quickly led the way into the trees. Without being limited to roads and paths; we were able to navigate the forest straight through to our location and arrived within minutes of the estimated time I had given earlier.

The rain was now coming down so hard that it actually _hurt_ and the waves beat against the shoreline so violently that sections of the sidewalk were falling away. Luckily no one lived in the area anymore but that didn't make it any easier to navigate the war-like zone.

"That way!" I called and pointed down toward the shoreline leading my brother's toward the landmark closest to the collapsed ship. We traversed the chaos quickly; fighting the wind and rain and waves the whole way before finally we were close enough.

"Here!" I shouted over the noise and once again pointed Leo in the direction we would need to go to find the ship.

"Alright!" He shouted back trying to protect his eyes from the rain as he broadcasted orders. "Stay together; sound out if you find anything." We all confirmed that we had heard him and he nodded back before turning to face the water. "Move out!" He ordered and we all jumped into the raging sea.

…

Nearly an hour into the swim my tracker proclaimed that we were right on top of the wreckage but it was Mikey that found it first; as he quickly pointed out the newest shipwreck sitting at the _bottom_ of the ocean.

Leo motioned for us to fall-in and ordered Raph and I to check the ship while he and Mikey swept the area for survivors and my brother and I surfaced for a brief second to take in some air before diving down to the ship.

We only had a general idea of the people that had been onboard and all I knew for sure was that there was a _seven_ -man crew including the captain and at least four of them were human.

Unfortunately humans could only survive for a few minutes underwater and even most mutants were guaranteed to last maybe twice that so I really had no idea what I would find inside and a part of me really didn't want to look, but knowing Raph had my back made it easier to finally enter the boat.

Using the walls and rails to pull ourselves along; we checked everywhere we could think someone might attempt to survive at but nothing presented itself. The phrase 'no news is good news' came to mind but somehow that didn't make me feel any better.

Deep in the confines of the ship we eventually found a large air bubble and headed for it. "Did you see anything?" I asked as Raph surfaced next to me.

"No." He answered looking back down at the water intending to keep an eye out for anything that might be a threat. "Looks like everyone got off." He guessed.

"Let's hope so." I added and quietly positioned myself to make another dive as I returned to the water with my brother right behind me.

We maneuvered back through the wreckage still looking for forms in the water as we headed outside again; however before we could make to the door it the ship suddenly rocked and tipped over onto its side turning everything on its head in the process.

Even though we were able to quickly re-coordinate our bearings and continue moving through the wreckage after it had settled; a loud bang that suddenly echoed through the halls had us stopping and looking at each other in concern.

We were able to swiftly navigate the twisted scenery and arrived back at the last air-lock door in a matter of seconds. However where there was once a light at the end of the tunnel only darkness awaited us now.

I instinctively moved to the side allowing Raph to go first and he immediately threw his back into the door but in a true testament of turtle-luck the water pressure kept it closed and he couldn't generate enough leverage to force it open.

We were trapped.

…

( _3_ _rd_ _:_ )

Swimming in the current underwater; the waves were almost nonexistent but the storm still made it difficult to see anything that might be floating on the surface. So Leo had to rely on Mikey's sharp eyesight to alert him to anything that might be people.

He hated separating his team but the ship had to be checked and Donnie was the one best qualified to keep survivors alive; not to mention Raph was the best choice to _carry_ those survivors to the surface if it had to be done quickly.

They worked well together; what one naturally lacked the other naturally made up for, just like _Mikey_ naturally compensated for _Leo's_ shortcomings.

If their family _had_ to be separated this was the best way to do it.

A minute later Leo heard a click and turned to relocate Mikey who was pointing up at something and he quickly followed the motion to squint at a dark spot on the surface that didn't seem to match the rest of the water.

He gave his little brother a thumbs-up and motioned to start their ascent again and led the way up to the still violently ragging waves above. When they reached the surface he motioned for a halt as they checked to make sure the dark spot was indeed what they were looking for. Thankfully it appeared that it was and they quickly broke water to swim to the side of the life boat.

"Hello?" Leo called up to the raft; gently grabbing the side just enough to stay attached to it but not enough to make it uneven. "Is anyone there?" He asked after receiving no response.

He couldn't see over the edge but he didn't dare try to climb in; the thing barely looked big enough to support the crew that it was supposed to save let alone take on his weight as well.

"Mikey." He called quietly when he still didn't get an answer and the younger turtle quickly moved closer so he could hear his leader's orders over the storm. "Get on my back." He told him. "See if anyone's in there."

The orange banded turtle nodded in understanding and moved around behind his brother as he prepared to take the weight. Thankful Mikey was the lightest of them not to mention he was an expert at keeping his balance; so he was quickly able to climb onto Leo's shoulders and looked up over the rim without pushing them both down so much that it defeated the point.

"They're here." He called in a somewhat panicked voice and Leo realized instantly that something _else_ was wrong. "But there's only _3_ of them."

…

Raph tried again to force the door open but still it wouldn't budge; he was about to put everything he had into it when Donnie suddenly grabbed his shoulder.

 _"No!"_ He clicked off. _"– find another."_ Even thought their turtle language was designed to be used underwater there were still a lot of words they couldn't say for fear of letting liquid into their lungs; but he still got his point across and his brother nodded in understanding before following Donnie back into the main part of the ship.

'There has ta be another way off this tub.' Raph thought to himself sourly as they checked the windows they could find; but none of them were big enough for them to fit through. 'Isn't that like a safety regulation thing or somethin'?' His brain added absentmindedly as he resurfaced in the slowly decreasing air bubble they had located before.

"Now what?" He asked out loud once Donnie joined him above the water again.

"Hang on; let me think?" He requested grabbing hold of something attached to the wall to keep himself up.

"Well ya better hurry up; we're kinda runnin' outta air in here." Raph reported obviously. True they were turtles and they could go for _hours_ without having to resurface but they would _eventually_ need oxygen again. Plus Leo and Mikey were going to need their help; they couldn't spend all night down there trying to find a way out of that stupid junk heap.

"Air!" Donnie repeated suddenly.

"That's what I said." Raphael told him with a questionable look in his brother's direction.

"No, _air_." He repeated unhelpfully looking back down at the water as he tried to locate something. "There should be _oxygen_ _tanks_ on this ship."

"Ooo K." Raph agreed still not all that sure where he was going with this.

"If we can break one open it should provide just enough force to open the door." Donnie explained finally before diving back down into the ship.

"If ya say so." The other turtle told no one particular before following him. If there was one thing he knew about Donnie it was that; regardless of what they understood if he said it could be done then it could be done.

A minute and a half later his brother located a closet that seemed to perk his interest and motioned for his help to open it. Thankfully it wasn't metal therefore it wasn't heavy and the red-clad ninja was able to pull the thing open with little trouble as he revealed a couple of oxygen tanks behind it.

Once he had a tank out; Donnie motioned for his brother to grab the table at the other end of the room and Raph quickly went to examine it. Unfortunately it was bolted to the floor (or in the case of _flipped_ physics; the _wall_ ) but it looked like he would still be able to get the leverage he needed to pull it free.

Maneuvering over he stationed his feet against the ground and gripped the edge of the table. Normally he would have taken a few deep breaths to prepare his body to use its strength but given the situation that might not be such a great idea. So instead he just closed his eyes for a second and pulled up with everything he had.

The sound of bending metal creaked through the water as the table protested the action; but Raphael wasn't in the mood for its refusal right now. There were people waiting for them to get out of there; so he quickly readjusted his hold and finally pulled the thing free a second later.

Suddenly finding that he was floating again he quickly resituated himself and swam the table into the hallway where he thankfully discovered that it was just wide enough that he could maneuver it through and quickly relocated Donnie at the door again.

His brother gave him a thumbs-up before showing where he wanted the thing placed then motioned for Raph to get back while he placed the oxygen tank. He then carefully tied a strap to the tip and swam back to hide around the corner with his sibling where he gave the rope one last experimental tug before pulling it at an angle as hard as he could.

There was a loud bang then a thud which was quickly followed by a rush of bubbles before everything was once again quiet but looking around the corner they couldn't help but smile upon finding that the plan had worked better than they thought.

Raph had assumed that the table was meant to hold the tank in place but it looked like his brother had planed for another use; to hold the _door_ once it was open.

He hadn't even considered it before but now that he thought of it the whole thing would have been a complete waste of time had the door just closed again right afterwards.

Good thing his brother was a genius.

A minute later Donnie led the way through the steel blockage as they were finally free of the underwater prison and quickly headed back to find their brothers. However it would seem fate had something else in store for them.

Raph saw it before his brother and immediately pulled him back into the shadows before whatever it was could see them; forcing Donnie to struggle to keep the air in his lungs during the sudden reverse in course and turned to glare at his sibling disapprovingly. But he was ignored as Raph quickly pointed out the object of his interest.

Donnie seemed to forget rather quickly that his brother had nearly drowned him as he studied the thing in obvious confusion and after a minute turned back around to give Raphael a quizzical look as it became obvious what question assaulted both of their minds.

'Why the hell were there _lights_ underwater?'

…

" _3_?" Leo asked his brother obviously just as confused as Mikey was.

"They're not moving." The younger of the two reported; nervously looking back at the forms lying in the bottom of the raft and with the raging sea around them he couldn't even make out if they were breathing either.

"Okay come down, _I'll_ get in." Leo told him gently.

"No I can do it." He argued immediately swallowing his fear as he continued to study the motionless forms. He really didn't want to be the one to find out they were dead but there was no way he could lift his older brother into the boat without tipping it over and they both knew it.

"You sure?" Leo asked and Mikey quickly turned back to nod at him. "Okay; on 3." He reported and his brother swiftly got ready to make the leap. "1 – 2 – 3!" He counted off and immediately lifted the other turtle up just high enough that he was able to flip himself up into the lifeboat.

Mikey steadied his nerves as he looked back at the people and carefully moved over to feel for a pulse in the first one. He couldn't help but jump when he found the man's skin to be as cold as ice but swallowed his fear again and reached out to check for a life force.

Nothing

The little turtle closed his eyes and carefully used what Splinter had taught them to calm himself down and quickly moved onto the next victim. Unfortunately it was the same story there; as well as the last one too.

"Le-o" He tried shakily before coughing in an attempt to strengthen his voice. "They're all – _gone_." He reported and for a second he didn't respond; but Mikey could just imagine his brother closing his eyes to allow this knowledge to wash over him.

"This doesn't make any sense." Leo stated after a minute. " _Why_?"

"I don't know." Mikey admitted examining the bodies again looking for anything that might account for their untimely demise. "They're not bleeding and I don't see any bruises, maybe _poison_." He guessed.

"Why would anyone poison a shipwrecked crew?" Leo stated before suddenly going quiet. "Mikey; get out of there!" He ordered in a hiss and said turtle immediately jumped over the side to drop back into the water; using the boat to slow his decent so he didn't make a big splash and quickly circled the raft again to come up behind his brother making sure to hide in the ship's shadow as he looked around to find what Leo had seen.

But when he saw it he couldn't help but raise an eye-ridge at the strangeness of the picture. About 20 feet away there were – _lights_ – swishing back and forth across each others path under the water; obviously looking for something but what the heck were they _doing_ there?

That's when it hit him "Wasn't that where the _ship_ was?" Mikey asked in a whisper.

"Come on!" Leo ordered quickly diving again as they cautiously headed for the lights in search of their two missing brothers.

…

( _Donnie's POV_ )

We watched the flashlights curiously for a minute before I suddenly had a thought and looked back at the doorway we had just escaped from.

I had been thinking that the water pressure alone shouldn't be enough to keep the door as tightly closed as it had been. So when I discovered the bent and damaged locking mechanism that I knew had been fine before we entered I realized that my suspicions had been confirmed.

I carefully reached out to tap on Raph's shoulder and pointed him toward the anomaly as well which quickly had the angry turtle glaring at the door before looking back at the lights.

It would seem that someone had gone to a great deal of trouble to lock us inside and now it appeared they intended to come back to finish the job. Thankfully it didn't look like they had seen us yet but if we stayed where we were much longer that wasn't going remain true.

So we quickly started making our way to the other side of the ship using the shadows to blend into the darkness; however before we could get very far Raph suddenly tackled me into the wall of the ship once again.

Ignoring the fact that; that had been the _second_ time in as many minutes that my brother seemed intent on drowning me; I looked around for the danger once again only to find it was a freaking _submarine_.

'Well, someone certainly has a lot of money to spend on this escapade.' I thought to myself; raising an eye-ridge at the underwater ship before looking back around to relocate the lights still approaching from behind.

We might have been able to navigate the lights and remain undetected but the sub was another story entirely. It likely had radar or heat sensors or both and that was going to make it nearly impossible to get by without being detected.

 _"How – hell – these guys sneak up – so fast?"_ Raph's clicked off quietly in a choppy version of our old language.

 _"Don't know."_ I admitted trying to make myself apart of my surroundings as one of the lights passed extremely close to our hiding spot. If it had been an older shipwreck we could have easily blended in with the moss and ocean scenery but instead the damn boat had to be _white_ so just one little pass-over from one of those flashlights would immediately end with us being detected.

On top of that if we were forced to _fight_ we ran the risk of losing our storied oxygen. True we could resort to pulling air straight out of the water but that was a technique we had not yet completely mastered and would probably end up damaging our lungs if we had to do it for too long.

It was at that moment that I found myself absentmindedly looking down at my gantlet again; knowing that there was at least _one_ way I could get us out of the situation; however I hadn't had the chance to test it yet but looking back at the submarine I quickly shrugged to myself in dismissal.

We were going to be found eventually at least this way I could get some use out of it.

I gently reached out to tap Raph on the shoulder causing my brother to look at me as I pointed at the device on my arm and motioned for him to cover his ears. He gave me a look but did as he was told as I expertly located the hidden button on my newest gadget which activated a _holographic_ control-panel over the underside of my arm.

I saw Raph's eyes widen a little in astonishment as I was able to _touch_ and interact with the hologram without pause and activated the technique I wanted and not only that but I was able to do it all with _just_ my left hand; as the touch screen on my _palm_ was designed to have everything I needed incase I was in a position that I couldn't use both hands.

After just a few seconds I was done and quickly set a timer before removing the gantlet from my arm to set it on the ground and covered my ears as well. Second or two later the holographic screen flashed yellow and a sound wave shot out in all directions so quickly that we could actually _see_ the ripples in the water as it passed.

Thankfully it seemed that the altercations I had made to the thing worked like a charm; for it didn't hurt our ears as the weapon quickly did its intended purpose and attacked any _electronics_ it could reach without harming the animals in the area which included _us_.

The flashlights were the first to go as their batteries suddenly burned out and fried their protective casings and a second later the sub went down as well; as the thing stopped moving with a noisy screech and soon an emergency warning system sounded from within the ship.

 _"What – hell was that?"_ Raph asked looking at the incapacitated underwater ship in confusion and I smiled knowingly as I re-secured the gantlet to my arm.

 _"Just – new gadget."_ He answered simply before looking around at the area to find that it was creepily void of sea life now; but the fact that there were no dead fish proved that my design had worked flawlessly.

We arrived at the sub within seconds I quickly started looking for a name or number that would help me identify the ship and tell us what was going on. But there wasn't one which meant that the thing had been built and piloted _illegally._

So maybe the 'Earth Protection Force' couldn't be everywhere but they were usually pretty good at keeping the waterways clear of crime. After all; the ocean was the world's last resort to transport food and supplies; it had to be protected at all costs.

It was then that Raph suddenly tapped me on the shoulder again as I attempted to muddle out this new riddle and looked around to find him pointing off into the distance. Following his finger I found two shadows swimming in our direction and knew immediately that they were Leo and Mikey.

However just before we had started to head toward them we suddenly found ourselves distracted by _pounding_ coming from within the submarine and my brother and I quickly shared a look before moving closer to the wall to listen.

Now that we were paying attention we could clearly hear the sound of _people_ beating on the inside walls, yelling and screaming to be let out.

Raph quickly gave me a questioning look but I immediately shook my head. I may have been trying to disable the ship with my attack but I would never design something that would intentionally _hurt_ someone; even my enemy.

Whoever was inside that ship; wasn't there by _choice_.

* * *

The start of Part 4… I'm so excited ^-^

Read and review please


	2. Chapter 1

Don't Own

* * *

Chapter 1:

( _3_ _rd_ _:_ )

As they got closer to the area where they had left Raph and Donnie; Mikey suddenly pointed out the presence of a _submarine_.

'Where the hell had that come from?' Leo thought to himself in slight shock; however upon closer inspection he could see that the thing was actually disabled and the closer they got the more he could hear a siren coming from within, which they were willing to bet had something to do with Donnie.

Well it looked like they had finally found the cause of death for the ship's occupants; after all it couldn't just be a coincidence that there was an unidentified submarine and several dozen independent free-swimmers in the same area that they had found the crew. But of course the question of _why_ still remained.

According to the old man; their mission was to find a simple fishing ship and even on land the turtles had noticed how fast the storm seemed to rage in; so it was perfectly reasonable for a small boat to become stranded in the bay. But there was nothing to take, nothing _worth_ anything anyway, so why attack it?

Even for _pirates_ this didn't make any sense.

When Mikey suddenly clicked at him again Leo looked over to find his brother pointing at something and he turned to see two familiar forms in the shadow of the sub. To say he was relieved was an understatement and nodded at the younger turtle before leading the way down to them.

However before they could meet up with their missing siblings; Raph and Donnie suddenly seemed to become distracted by something and swam over to lean into the ship as if listening to the inner workings.

As they got closer Raph turned to quickly motion them in while Donnie moved around the side of the ship as if looking for something. When they were within ear shot Leo tried to ask what was wrong; but his red clad brother promptly pulled him up to the ship before forcing him to listen to the wall as well which was when Leo finally understood.

There were people inside and they were _not_ happy about it.

He had to wonder for a second if the pirates had sprung a leak; but judging from what these particular people were yelling that wasn't the case. There was no doubt about it; they were _prisoners_.

The other three looked up when Donnie suddenly banged his fist against the side in response; but the voices continued to yell forcing him to hit it a little harder to be heard, however they still continued to drown him out.

He was about to try one last time when Raph placed a hand on his shoulder pointed a thumb at himself with a purposeful grin and promptly threw his fist into the metal so hard that he had them all clutching at their ears in pain.

Leo promptly gave him a stern glare as his brother looked to him with a sheepish smile before turning back to Donnie as he started to bang out Morse-code on the side of the sub, asking the inhabitants about their location; as they could now _hear_ him in their shocked silence.

Lucky for the turtles the people inside were sailors and thus very familiar with the dot-dash language, so before long a response was issued back as someone on the other side gave them any information they had.

Unfortunately it wasn't much but it would have to do.

Donnie and Mikey continued to maneuver around to the rear of the sub as Raph and Leo remained on the lookout; allowing Donnie to carefully feel along the walls looking for anyway to get inside; while Mikey floated casually behind him studying the metal casing for anything his brother might have missed.

After a couple minutes the purple-clad turtle finally motioned toward the underside of the ship and they migrated there where he and Mikey quickly became interested in something and called their two older siblings over to investigate as well.

'Okay; now _that's_ strange.' Raph thought to himself as he took in the weird anomaly.

If there was one thing he knew about submarines it was that they opened from the _top_. But this one had apparently not gotten the memo as it actually sported an entrance at the _bottom_ ; however that wasn't even the weirdest thing as the ' _entrance'_ didn't even have a hatch door instead there was nothing but a big _hole_ in the underside of the ship.

Donnie explained that it was probably how the watercraft got in and out which made sense; though it was still weird.

But unfortunately that meant the area was likely going to be under heavy use and thus heavily guarded; which was the only excuse Leo needed to herd his team away from the area so they wouldn't be seen.

He then inquired of Donnie about other ways to get inside; which had their brother turning a thoughtful gaze to the ship above him and _smirked_ ; before reaching up to touch the metal momentarily like he was testing its strength; then quickly reached down to his gantlet again and started messing with something.

The hologram reappeared as it had before and after a second the screen lit up again this time in a bright orange color as something emerged from the wrist of the gadget that looked a lot like the tip of a _cutting-torch_. Donnie then gently turned to point his new toy at the ship and for a second his brother's thought that maybe it hadn't worked; until they realized that he was just adjusting his angle before pressing another button thus causing the torch to fire up.

As a powerful beam of white started cutting through the ship the other turtles were amazed to discover that it was actually _water_ and not fire. The thing was taking in the water around it and shooting it out at such a rapid rate that it was literally cutting through the steel like it was paper.

Now _that_ was cool.

 _"I want one of those."_ Raph clicked off in Leo's direction who gave him a look out of the corner of his eye before suddenly turned to focus on something over his shoulder. The leader didn't have to say anything for his brother to get the picture and quickly turned to see what was wrong as well.

'Finally; something I can _hit_.' Raph thought to himself joyously as some fast moving; _familiar_ looking shadows started toward them at a quick pace, which the turtles recognized as the same forms that had been swimming with the flashlights before and likely meant that they were mutants who were well adapted to the water.

The brothers had never had a fight underwater before so this was going to be interesting, however before Leo could bark an order to be careful; Raph decided there wasn't any fun in that and charging in head on.

He knew he should have listened but the way he saw it this was _their_ territory, so what could possibly get the better of them _here_?

Apparently; _these guys_.

'Oh come on.' The red clad turtle grumbled to his subconscious as something swam past him at a lot faster speed than he could ever hope to swim. ' _Fish_ mutants? Seriously?' He added in thought as another darted by and struck out at him with something long and sharp.

Okay they were fast; he'd give them that much. But he had a few surprises of his own. He and his brothers had been training for years to use their _shells_ as a shield and this was just what Raphael did as the weapon came within striking range once again and the impact alone caused the stick to break completely in half leaving the turtle unscathed as he quickly turned back around to knock the guy for a real good loop before heading back to his brothers.

The red-clad turtle may have been a self-defined _rebel_ but he knew his place on the team. He was here to protect them so they could do their work and that was exactly what he intended to do.

Leo was floating in one place with his face contorted into that famous 'studying look' he was so good; as he watched the action with interest. It wouldn't take him much longer to come up with a technique to take these idiots out.

Mikey had left Donnie to his tinkering and looked to be having the time of his life making all kinds of rude gestures at the fish people; egging them on and generally getting under their skin. It seemed that no one was truly safe from his overwhelming annoyingness.

Leo hated to admit it; but as the fight went on he had to say that the pirates weren't half bad. He was willing to bet that most if not all of them had spent a great deal of their lives as normal fish before being mutated. As the level of skill a mutant possessed in their natural environment did tend to correspond with the amount of time they spent as animals.

However what really got the turtle's attention was that they all looked almost _exactly_ alike.

Even in gangs it was difficult if not impossible to find an entire group of the same species. Even the brothers themselves were considered strange in that respect and there were only _four_ of them; yet these guys numbered into the _20's_ at a minimum.

When Leo suddenly clicked off a fast order; Mikey and Raph moved into position; which left the youngest brother to then purposely start to ticking off one of the fish people in particular while Raph kept the rest at bay, then just when his opponent struck out; Mikey darted out-of-the-way to allow Leo and his _katana_ to take his place. With Leo's blade coming in on his right the fish guy was forced to dodge to the left which sent him straight into _Raph's_ path.

Within a second the red-clad ninja had punched the goon straight in the stomach bringing his momentum to such a sudden stop that his ability to breathe underwater was temporarily interrupted.

The guy didn't get too much chance to recover before Leo materialized behind him, placed his sword against the man's throat and lifted; quickly bringing his struggling pray into submission.

Mikey and Raph moved to flank him as he could no longer protect himself; while also allowing plenty of room for the other fish people to become aware of their captive.

However they didn't seem to _care_.

Raph was just _barely_ able to pull his older brother out of harms way when another mutant suddenly used their distraction to plow his spear straight _through_ his imprisoned ally trying to take out the turtle behind him.

To say the three were shocked was a bit of an understatement. True they had been trained to expect such dishonorable tactics but what they _hadn't_ expected however was for their enemy to not even _hesitate_ in the slaughter of a comrade.

Something was not adding up.

It had been too quick, too precise. Even if they didn't like the guy; one would expect them to show at least _some kind_ of emotion.

The two oldest turtles shared a quick look as it was obvious to both of them by this point that something was not kosher here. A second later Leo ordered Raph to protect Donnie before quickly moving to the side as another fish mutant darted between them.

Leo quickly sheathed his sword knowing full-well that using their weapons underwater just slowed them down and kicked out at the goon as he attempted to take a swipe at him; causing the mutant fish to cart-wheel aimlessly through the water for a second before righting himself and prepared to attack again.

Mikey swam up to take Raph's place as the older turtle secured the injured mutant and returned to Donnie's side. He didn't know if the man was still alive or not but his brother would have never forgiven him if I had just left the guy behind.

He may have been the enemy but he was still a person and he needed their help. It wasn't in their code of honor to just abandon people no matter what they may have done to them in the past.

Despite the universe in its entirety working against him it only took Donnie another minute to finish making his hole in the ship and motioned for them to fall in, causing Mikey to file through the opening first so he could help Raph get the injured mutant inside without hurting him. They then carefully laid the man on the floor as Donnie and Leo entered as well.

True to form; the oldest brother jumped straight out of the water to land on his feet where he quickly searched the area for threats; as Donnie turned around to place the end of his gantlet back into the water and fired off something from his wrist that announced itself with a distinctive * _pop*_ a second later causing the fish mutants on their tail to suddenly stop and cover their ears before swimming away in a frenzy.

"What was that?" Raph asked curiously.

"Just a stun." Don stated as he moved the big circle of metal he had detached from the ship back into place. "Like an amplified version of tapping on a fish tank." He explained simply in a grand display of multitasking; as he pushed a few more buttons on his gantlet, activated a spark at the tip of his water cutter and started melting the two pieces of the metal back together again. "They might have a bit of a headache but otherwise they'll be fine." He added after he finished with his task.

"Dude that thing is sweat." Mikey proclaimed of his brother's new toy as said turtle quickly moved to kneel over to the guy on the floor and covered the man's wound in an attempt to put pressure on the gash.

"Where are we?" Leo asked still looking around for any kind of threat.

"Below the engine room." Donnie explained distractedly as he carefully checked the man's pulse and breathing. "This place can't be reached easily so I can lead us out before they get here."

"So is he – dead?" Mikey asked shakily as his brother put his ear right up next to the guy's chest and listened for a heart beat.

"No." He finally answered and straightened up again. "Raph!" He ordered and motioned with his head for said turtle to get his bag as he no longer had a hand to do so himself and the red clad ninja quickly did as he was told; gently reaching around to free the buckle that secured the bag around his brother's abdomen before opening it to locate the things that Donnie needed.

He was only a few weeks into his first aid training; but Raph was still able to expertly find and use the medicines his brother labeled off as Donnie continued to put pressure on the injury.

In a matter of minutes they had managed to stop the bleeding and gave the guy something for blood-loss, infections and shock; before Donnie held him up so Raph could gently wrap the man's torso in several layers of bandages.

"Is he going to make it?" Leo asked still watching the halls cautiously.

"We've done everything we can." Donnie answered as Raph used his teeth to split the end of the bandage so he could tie it off. "But there's a lot working against him, it'll depend on his will to live."

"So are we taking him with us?" Mikey asked looking toward their leader curiously.

They honestly wouldn't blame him if he decided to just leave the guy there; for all they knew he could wake up any second and attack them. But on the other hand; to leave an injured and dying man to his fate would not only disgrace them but the one who had _raised_ them and that wasn't something they would put up with.

"No." Leo finally stated a little reluctantly. "If nothing else he may have some information on what's going on here." He rationalized.

"Can he be moved Don?" Raph asked as he stood back up to watch his brother re-secure his bag.

"Yes, but we'll have to be careful with him." He answered simply before holding out his fist to his slightly older sibling. "You did good Raph, in a few years you won't even _need_ me." Said turtle raised an eye-ridge at that comment but completed the fist-bump any way.

"Okay Raph." Leo interrupted as he finally turned around to look down at the injured person they would now be lugging around enemy territory. "You're in-charge of him." He finally ordered.

"Gee thanks." The red-banded turtle replayed sourly before carefully lifting the injured mutant onto his back.

"Donnie; take the lead and find those prisoners. Mikey cover the rear! If it moves; _hit_ it!" Their leader added seriously. "I don't want _anything_ sneaking up on us."

"Aye captain!" Mikey proclaimed in a poorly accented pirate-voice before skipping his way to the back of the line where he took up position as they moved through the ship; following the cool little gadget on Donnie's wrist.

His brother's honestly couldn't blame Leo for the cautiousness, after all the place was freaking _small_. They were forced to duck under low ceilings more times than they cared to count and there was barely enough room to walk sideways down most of the halls; so it would have been nearly impossible to _fight_ in such cramped conditions.

But at least they'd been trained to control their claustrophobia.

They were on a constant alert as they moved about; waiting for anything to happen as they were sure that any second now they would walk around a corner to find a whole army of pirates pointing their weapons at them, but as the minutes came and went the ship remained deserted of everyone but them.

It seemed to take forever but Donnie eventually located the area of the sub where they'd heard the people pounding on the side before and promptly ordered his brother's to stand back.

Knowing that as Donnie's 'I'm about to blow something up' tone of voice; Mikey immediately materialized behind a corner with Leo and Raph right behind him.

"He says that like it blowing up in _his_ face is no big deal." Raph grumbled sarcastically; watching Donnie like a hawk as their brother gently pulled a little triangle shaped something from his bag and stuck it to the wall before taking a second to activate the thing and booked it to their hiding spot where his siblings literally pulled him right off his feet and into the shadows.

So there might have been a _slight_ probability that they were a little paranoid about things that went _boom_.

The explosion wasn't big but it seemed to do the job it was intended. For Donnie rushed back out seconds after the blast; to wave away the smoke and push open the door with little effort.

"Hello?" He called into the room curiously; slowly stepping inside. "It's okay, we're –" He started again but didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before someone flew at him from the shadows; welding a small metal pipe as a weapon.

Donnie backed up a step and avoided the attack by barely half an inch but judging from the almost _board_ body language his was displaying; you'd think he wasn't even on the same _continent_ as his opponent.

The guy swung out at him several more times but Donnie expertly danced around them in a calm, cool and collected manner; all the while trying to talk to the distressed man.

"It's alright." He tried again only to be interrupted by another attack which he ducked under with only centimeters to spare. "We're not going to hurt you." He continued as if nothing had happened before dodging again. "We're friends."

The other three turtles couldn't help but feel kind of sorry for the guy. He obviously wasn't hearing anything Donnie was saying and was only becoming more and more terrified as he continued to miss his target, but unfortunately for him Donnie was in a whole other league. Hell even _they_ couldn't hit him anymore so this nut didn't stand a chance.

"That's it." Raph declared right on cue as his 'Brother Bear' instincts were awakened at the sight of one of his own under attack; at which point he promptly handed the injured mutant off to Mikey and barreled toward the guy like a turtle-steamroller.

"Raph –" Leo started to say but gave his retreating brother a look when he was ignored. "No, stop, come back." He added in an annoyed tone obviously well aware that he wouldn't be heard.

"Hey buddy." The red-clad turtle proclaimed as he stomped over to the guy and lifted him straight off the ground by the collar of his shirt. "Chill out, we're here ta _help_ ya." He ordered crudely.

"What?" The guy asked shakily, but the turtles had to give the dude credit; even though he was scared out of his mind he had still raised his make-shift weapon like he had intended to attack _Raph_ of all people.

Now that took some serious guts.

"Raph; put him down." Donnie ordered walking up to the man slowly so as not to scare him even more, causing his brother to snort disapprovingly before doing as he was told and folded his arms in a huff.

"We're your friends." Donnie explained gently before reaching out to knock on the guy's metal pole sounding out the Morse code word for 'comrade' and the man's eyes widened in recognition as he looked at Donnie in sudden wonder.

"That was you?" He asked.

"Yes." Leo answered walking up to take his place as leader. "We're from the Hamato Clan. We were sent here to find a ship lost at sea."

"That was _my_ ship." The guy stated excitedly. "Who sent you?"

"A resident, he said his name wasHisao." Leo explained kindly.

"That's my father." He answered obviously ecstatic to hear this news.

"You're Taro?" Leo asked and the guy nodded violently. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"Yes, but –" He started before looking back into the shadows of the room nervously. "Are you a _doctor_?" He added worriedly causing Donnie to immediately step up again.

"Where?" He ordered in his 'no more questions better be asked' voice.

"Over here." Taro immediately led the way to the other side of the small room where they quickly located the rest of the crew they'd been looking for – and _more_.

…

 _Hisao ~ Long-lived man_

 _Taro ~ Great Son; Eldest Son_

…

 _(Donnie's POV)_

"Are all these people from your crew?" Leo asked as I knelt down to assess the damage inflicted upon one of the many people crowded into the corner. It didn't look that bad but some of the others were in a lot worse condition.

I hated to do it but I would have to help those in the most need first and the rest would just have to bare the pain 'til I could get to them.

"Raph." I said quietly as Leo continued to get information. "I need your help."

"What can I do?" He asked and I opened my medical bag again to check inside. 'Damn it there were too many, I didn't have enough supplies.'

"We're going to have to find those that need aid _first_." I explained quietly as I picked a certain bottle from the pack and gave it to my brother who looked at the label then back at me. "It'll help with the pain." I added as I moved over to another man who looked around in a dazed state.

"Anyone who can _wait_ I need you to move out-of-the-way." I continued calmly as I looked around at the other people trying to see how many more I would need to help sooner rather then later. Thankfully they hadn't realized I was a doctor yet and hopefully they _wouldn't_ as this would be so much easier without them panicking and pushing each other around to receive aid.

"Got it." Raph answered putting the little bottle safely in his belt and started to do his job while Leo continued to speak with Taro in an attempt to keep the spotlight on him long enough for me to do my job.

I started handing patients off to Raph and Mikey allowing them to perform simple splints and anything else they could handle without me while I started to help the more seriously injured.

Thankfully no one was dead and none of the wounds were life threatening; at least not yet. But I still had to wonder how long some of these people had been trapped in here.

The crew we had been sent to find were obviously in a lot better shape and still quite strong; some were even _impatient_ , but the others were dazed, hungry and weak.

"Donnie." Raph whispered as I finished aid on one man and got up to help the next. "Have ya noticed this?" He asked and I looked around to see what he was talking about. "They're all – _human_." He supplied and I nodded in agreement.

I'd noticed that too and like him I had found it very odd. From what we had been told a few of the crew members we were sent to retrieve had been mutants so why were we only finding _human_ prisoners?

"They're gone." Mikey whispered suddenly and I turned to find him looking at the floor solemnly. "We found three of them in a lifeboat; but they were all – _dead_."

I couldn't help wincing as I realized he had likely found that out _personally_ and placed my hand on his shoulder gently. "Are you okay?" I asked and he nodded slowly. Though he was obviously lying; I decided to let it go for now.

"I didn't think anything of it at first." He started again in a quiet voice. "But now that you mention it; all three of them were _mutants_."

"Why would they be capturing humans?" Raph asked grumpily as he folded his arms in thought.

"Why would they be capturing _anyone_?" I corrected him. "This just doesn't make any sense." I added looking back toward Leo who turned slightly in his conversation with Taro to shake his head in response to the unspoken question.

He wasn't having any luck either.

…

 _(3_ _rd_ _:)_

"They came out of nowhere." Taro explained. "But they didn't want anything on the ship; instead they just attacked and captured us without a word."

"What do you mean?" Leo asked curiously.

"It was the weirdest thing." The guy started again. "We've had run-ins with pirates before but these guys were different. They never talked; they just – _attacked_ until they had us and then they – stood there at attention 'till others arrived to take us away." He explained; examining the injured people around him in concern. "It's like they had no souls, like they were –" He paused as if he couldn't think of the word he wanted.

" _Machines_?" Leo suggested and the man looked back at him again before nodding in agreement. "Yeah; we saw that too." The turtle told him seriously before looking over at the injured pirate they had brought with them.

"What about my ship?" Taro asked suddenly very concerned about something. "There were three others on my crew that were left behind."

This caused Leo to close his eyes in an effort to prepare himself to tell the unfortunate side of that story. "I'm sorry." He started. "We found a small lifeboat but everyone inside was already – gone. We don't know how or why."

"What –" Taro stuttered. "What do you mean _gone_?"

Leo understood that the man was in shock; but did he really mean to make him explain it further? "I mean – they were – _dead_." He finally added.

"No." Taro answered before suddenly throwing himself at the ninja and it took everything Leo had to not attack him on sheer impulse to defend himself, but somehow he managed not to chop the guy into little pieces as he continued to yell in his face. "They can't be – _she_ can't be." He corrected and Leo suddenly understood.

"Your _wife_?" He asked quietly but his only response was for the man to let his arms fall to his side in defeat as he looked at the ground in a daze. "Taro." He stated sternly; but received no response.

"Taro I can't begin to understand what you're going through; but now is not the time to greave. I need your help to get these people out of here." Leo told him seriously but the intended recipient of his words remained comatose.

The turtle turned to check on Donnie again who was moving at a brisk pace from one patient to the next; but even with Raph and Mikey's help it was obvious that he was still a long way from wrapping things up and Leo sighed loudly as he realized what he'd have to do.

Taro had just suffered a great loss and he understood that; but he didn't have time to allow the man to recover; not when there were still lives that could be saved. So the blue-clad ninja quietly steeled himself for what had to be done and looked back at the young man before instantaneously unsheathing and placing the edge of his sword right up to the human's throat.

He didn't want to seem cruel but there was nothing quite like the promise of death to pull someone out of a stupor; and this was no exception as the man quickly took in a sharp breath when he became aware of what had just happened; but Leo didn't allow him the time to panic either.

"Taro." He said in a deadly voice and the guy froze as the full extent of his focus was demanded by the turtle. "I'm sorry, I truly am." Leo started again in a kinder tone but not so much that he lost Taro's attention. "But this must _wait_." He continued. "These people need medical attention and I'm going to need your help."

"With what?" Taro asked as Leo released his sword ever-so-slightly to give him more breathing room.

"Donnie is not only our doctor; he's our _technician_." Leo explained seriously. "But I'm gonna have to leave him _here_ to care for these people; which means I need _you_ topilot this ship."

"But it's _damaged_." He argued quickly.

"No it's just disabled; my brother can tell you how to start it again." Leo countered lowering his sword as Taro looked around at the people once more before focusing on Donnie for a second then turned back to Leo.

"Okay." He finally answered.

"Thank you." The turtle told him gently as he put his sword away again.

"But how did you _know_ I could pilot it?" Taro added suddenly and Leo looked back at him as he continued. "I never said that I _could_." He stated in confusion which caused the ninja to smile slightly before answering.

"I _didn't_." He admitted. "But from the way you fought with Donnie I could tell you'd been on a submarine before, and no one in there right mind willingly traps themselves inside one of these things without learning how to _use_ it."

The man took a second to register that before asking. "You got all that from watching him swing a pipe around like an idiot?"

Leo just smiled again before leading the way back over to his brothers; stating smartly under his breath. "It's kind of what I do."

Raph quickly swiped the little bottle Donnie had given him under a woman's nose and gently held her as she reared back from the smell to make sure she didn't hurt herself while the medicine took affect and dulled the pain.

After she'd finally chilled out he helped her lay back down before moving to Mikey's patient who sported a nasty looking broken arm.

The red-clad turtle gave this guy the same treatment and forced him to take a big generous whiff of the substance before Mikey laid him down again and they both looked up as Leo and Taro walked over.

"This is gonna take longer than I thought." Raph reported without him even having to ask and looked over at Donnie who was in the middle of what looked to be a complicated surgery to stop a bleeding stomach.

"There's still so many." Mikey stated looking around at the close to 30 other people in the room that had yet to receive treatment. "Where did they all come from?"

"We don't know." Taro answered. "They were here before we were captured and we couldn't get any of them to answer us."

"And I know _why_." Donnie suddenly entered the conversation and they all turned to watch as he finished bandaging the wound he had sewn up before gently pointing to the man's neck, causing his brother's to wince as they noticed a scar there that looked all too familiar to them; as it was practically identical to the one Donnie himself had received when a Purple Dragon had attempted to sever his vocal cords a lifetime ago.

"And he's not the only one." Donnie continued. "Every one of them has the same thing. You and your crew were probably next." He told Taro who turned white as that information sank in.

"So they're from the slave trade?" Raph growled low in his throat; having a particular nasty bone he wished to pick with that group of low-lives.

"Actually _no_ I don't think they are." Donnie answered simply and they all looked at him in surprise. "This surgery was done far too _cleanly_ to be the slave trade." He explained looking at the man's scar again as he went on. "Plus they have no reason to capture _humans_."

"True." Leo admitted.

"Okay so – we don't know who they are, we don't know what they want, we don't know why they're doing it and we don't know how to stop them." Mikey proclaimed sourly as he held up his fingers to count.

"Thanks fur pointing that out." Raph announced dryly. "Anything _else_ ya'd like ta add?"

Mikey seemed to think about that for a moment before holding up one hand to show his brother. "I still have two fingers." He stated with a smile which nearly earned him a whack upside the head causing the smaller turtle to couch into a defensive position; before Raph suddenly realized that he actually had a point and _paused_.

However the red-clad ninja never passed up a chance to hit Mikey; so he smacked him anyway for good measure when the turtle stood back up.

"How long Donnie?" Leo asked ignoring them as they glared each other down.

"None of them are ready to move." He answered quietly. "But I can keep them alive 'till we get to shore."

Leo nodded at that and gave him a quick _look_ before turning toward Taro which had Donnie following his gaze and nodding back before walking up to the guy and started talking him through something.

"Raph, Mikey." Leo continued which had said brothers quickly catching onto something in his voice that they _didn't_ like.

"Not gonna happen!" Mikey proclaimed quickly earning a glare from his oldest brother; which didn't faze the orange-clad turtle in the least and Raph couldn't help but smirk approvingly as it seemed that his stubbornness was starting to ware off on him.

He was so proud.

"This is _not_ open for debate Mikey." Leo growled at him but the youngest sibling just glared back and held his ground.

"And nether is you going off on your own." He countered as Raph folded his arms to watch the show. Normally it was _him_ in Mikey's place but he couldn't help admitting that it was interesting to see the argument from another point of view for once.

"I won't be alone and –" Leo declared before his little brother cut him off again.

"Taro doesn't count." Mikey proclaimed. "I like the guy but he's too distracted."

"Speak for yourself." Raph stated smartly; causing them both to glare at him.

"And I just know _you've_ got something to say about this, so spit it out." Leo ordered causing his angry sibling to give him a look.

Since when did _Raph_ become the voice of reason here?

"I'll stay here." He proclaimed simply causing Leo to raise an eye-ridge at him which was probably the most shock any of them had ever seen him portray. "But that's not ta say I _agree_ with ya." Raph added quickly and his brother's shock quickly dissolved back into that look that said his world was normal again.

Leo started to answer when both of his brother's folded their arms again and glared at him to insure that he understood that solo missions were out of the question and after a second he sighed. "Fine." Leo finally agreed and Mikey gave him one of those smiles that he used after he'd just puppy-dog-eyed someone into submission.

"What did I miss?" Donnie asked as he walked up and looked between the three of them with a knowing expression.

"Nothin' important." Raph told him; looking over his shoulder as Taro walked up as well. "Does he know what ta do?" He added motioning at the guy.

"Yeah." Donnie answered looking at Leo instead and he nodded.

"Okay, Taro you're in the middle." Leo ordered quickly as he started to take command of the situation again. "Mikey you're behind."

Mikey didn't even answer as he moved to the door where he took up his position and Raph roughly pushed Taro toward him before he could stand there looking like a confused nimrod before Leo walked over to join the team as well; where he turned back to look at Donnie and Raph momentarily and they both nodded in understanding.

Though they hated separating their family again as well; they knew it had to be done. But this is what they had _trained_ for, they weren't children anymore.

They were ready.

* * *

I would like to give some big thanks to CharmyPI-5 the VIII for letting me bounce idea's off her for the last … I don't know how long...

She has actually immortalized a small piece of un-posted content from my story in her own "Unyielding" and I am positively _tickled_ with how well they merged.

;)

I'll be more than happy to post these little bouts of random thought if anyone is interested in reading them.

Let me know in the comments


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

( _3_ _rd_ _:_ )

It's not that Mikey didn't understand Leo's reasoning; because he did. His brother just wanted to protect them and keep them as safe as possible and they valued that about him.

But _now_ was not the time to be playing the hero; he had Mikey to watch his back; it's what Shichi trained him to do. To change his mind when it needed to be changed and tell him which way to go next.

Maybe it was just a 'little brother worshiping his big brothers' thing but he knew that Raph and Donnie could handle it by themselves and that he was just going to be in their way if he stayed behind and Leo understood that too; Mikey could tell by the way he was _ignoring_ him.

"Is he always this – _scary_?" Taro suddenly asked and the orange-banded turtle couldn't help but look at him in confusion before realizing that he was talking about his brother and was barely able to reframe from laughing out loud

He always wondered how other people saw his brothers but he had to admit _scary_ hadn't always been on the list.

"Don't worry." He told the man quietly knowing that Leo could hear them. "He just _wants_ you to think he's mean; but he's actually made of cotton balls."

"Better than gummy bears." Leo added without looking at them causing his brother to glare at his back where he was just about to tell him off with a cleaver comeback when Leo suddenly stopped in his tracks to hold up his fist in the 'hold' signal.

Mikey immediately tackled Taro and held his hand over the guy's mouth to insure he didn't give away their position and waited as Leo cautiously looked around the corner up ahead before pulling his sword out cautiously causing Mikey to quickly followed his lead and await the signal.

However the oldest turtle seemed to be slightly confused as he studied something around the corner before pulling back to stand against the wall again and looked back at his little brother who raised an eye-ridge in a silent question. But the only answer he got was a shake of the head indicating that he wasn't sure before pointing toward the corner and Mikey silently moved to take a look for himself.

'Okay that _was_ weird.' He thought as he suddenly found himself somewhat relieved that at least they _knew_ where all the pirates were hiding now; as at least _50_ of them were standing at attention there in the hall; but they weren't doing anything other than breathing.

The orange-clad ninja quietly flattened himself against the wall again and gave Leo another questioning look. Even if this was a _military_ ship no one was _that_ still; they should have been running around trying to get the sub moving again or at the very least looking for them; but instead they were just standing around like Lego figures.

"Where's the bridge from here?" Leo whispered right in Taro's ear and the man pointed across the hall.

So they wouldn't have to face the quiet-brigade directly but it seemed they would still need to pass them, so Mikey quickly looked back around the corner at the stick figure crew to find that none of them had moved yet and turned his gaze across the opening to the next hall which suddenly seemed a lot farther away.

He kept watch on the pirates as Leo walked up next to him again and readied himself to cross the thresh hold before quickly flipping across the floor to the other side as Mikey watched the army like a hawk; but not one of them even so much as twitched in response.

As Leo and his brother switched places; leaving the oldest to stand watch this time; the orange-clad ninja quietly reached behind him to grab Taro by his shirt and maneuvered him into position before waiting only a second for Leo's signal and pushed the man across no-man's land to safety.

Even with the clumsy attempt at stealth that the guy had displayed the army still didn't move; which had Leo and Mikey exchanging another look before the younger turtle joined them as well only to turn back and find that they were still – _still_.

Now this was getting weird, not that it wasn't already.

"Ooo – k" Mikey stated quizzically in Leo's ear after they had backed up all the way to the next hall where they were out of earshot and his brother simply nodded in agreement before beginning another search of the area for any threats, as he was now more paranoid than ever.

They found a few more hallways full of living stick people as they made their way through the ship but luckily didn't have to get so close; however after several minutes of searching Mikey found himself checking a random doorway and couldn't help but smile as he realized they'd finally located _the_ _bridge_.

…

 _(Donnie's POV)_

I moved onto another patient and quickly assessed the damage as a head injury and possible kidney failure before taking a deep breath and started the treatment.

I had rationed out my supplies the best I could but still I was running dangerously short and had serious doubts that it would last through the rest of the injured sailors; especially with all the _internal_ problems they were displaying, as a lack of food and water for such an extended period of time had really taken its toll on them.

A few minutes later I had finished treating the man who didn't even so much as wince through the whole thing, obviously that he was already in so much discomfort that nothing I did could even come close to comparing.

Raph appeared at my side a second later and helped the man take in the smell of the little bottle I had given him before laying him back down with a concerned look.

"These guys are a lot worse off than the others." He commented quietly.

"Yeah." I agreed and looked around for the next person that needed treatment the most and moved to her. "Oh no!" I said under my breath before kneeling down to gently place my ear against her stomach.

"What?" Raph asked immediately picking up on my distress.

"She's _pregnant_." I whispered checking her pulse and breathing quickly.

"She is?" My brother responded looking at the woman in confusion.

"Yeah." I answered placing my hand over her womb and looked at her face. "2 months?" I guessed and she weakly held up her hand to show me one finger in a slanted position. "2 and a half?" I answered and she nodded.

"How long have you been here?" I asked her gently but she only shook her head that she didn't know.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Raph asked kneeling down next to me. "What about the baby?"

"They'll both be fine." I answered confidently. I couldn't afford to show doubt right now; not in front of this mother who had done everything in her power to save her child.

She'd done her part now it was my turn.

As I started the treatment and slowly adjusted her back into comfort so she wouldn't go into shock I noticed something else and lifted her arm to examine the little marks there.

"Are those –" Raph asked and I nodded before looking back at the woman.

"They gave you drugs?" I asked and she nodded. "How many?" She just shook her head again; either she had lost count or had been unconscious through most of it.

"What's that gonna do?" Raph asked and I turned to place a hand on his shoulder to calm him down a little. He'd always been kind of jumpy around anything to do with _kids_. "I'm not sure what but they were obviously intending to do _something_ with that baby." I answered as I slowly removed the tanto from my belt and lay a gentle hand on the woman's arm as she eyed the blade in fear. "It's okay." I assured her. "This isn't for _you_."

"What are ya gonna do?" Raph requested watching the blade as well as I brought the edge to the palm of my right hand where I quickly sliced the skin there. "Hey!" My brother complained immediately. "What are ya –"

"It's okay." I told him while I once again lifted the woman's arm and placed my injured hand over the needle marks there before closing my eyes and concentrated on the nano-bots in my system.

"Donnie?" Raph started again.

"Shhh." I insisted immediately and he shut up.

I had brought this idea up with Olcadan a few years back and he'd worked to help him refine it; but it was the first time I would be putting it into practice so it was _not_ a good time for distractions.

My brother seemed to understand that I needed to focus as he carefully moved to the woman's side and tried to keep her calm while I worked and a few minutes later I was deep in my subconscious where I started to concentrate on my ability to _heal_. However this time I would be _redirecting_ it; which would be tricky since my target was not only the lady but her unborn child as well.

I had to get those drugs out of their system for who knew what kind of damage they had already caused; I would not allow them to harm this baby any more than they already had.

After another minute I started to feel the nano-bots in my body responding to my call and move at-will into the woman's body; taking my blood and the powerful medicines within with them to destroy the toxins in the mother's bloodstream and _safely_ treat the baby; not to mention protect them both from the negative affects of the drugs in the future.

 _If_ it worked

…

( _3rd_ )

It would seem that Donnie's plan to come up in another area of the ship had paid off; as several TV screens displayed people rummaging around in an area that looked an awful lot like the _hole_ the turtles had made in the bottom of the sub; where the pirates were obviously so busy trying to find their targets that they didn't even realize the turtles had already found them.

Leo materialized on the other side of the doorway with Taro in tow and studied the bridge closely for enemy action. There were only five pirates in the room which they could easily take out before giving away their position and so the oldest brother spoke a few commands via hand-signs and Mikey nodded before moving into position.

Using the dark area to their advantage they snuck right up to the first two guards near the back of the room and simultaneously knocked them both out before dragging them into the shadows to await further unconsciousness.

However as they moved apart to opposite sides of the room something began to nag at Mikey; like there was something he was forgetting and took a minute to study his surroundings again before finally spotting it; a _sixth_ guard deep in the shadows of a section of the room that really shouldn't have been there.

It was obvious that this little nook had been made _specifically_ for the purpose of hiding a guard and the turtle was lucky to have spotted it in time for if he had taken one more step he would have been spotted.

Quickly checking on Leo's position Mikey measured out the _symmetrical_ room and figured that there should be another of those little crevices in his area as well. Unfortunately he couldn't see it from where he was but if he was right; his brother still had lots of room before he was seen.

But it was _Mikey's_ guard who was going to be the problem for if he didn't take him out first the guy would soon see them _both_.

So backing up a few steps; Mikey maneuvered closer to the wall and up into the pipes and bars crossing the ceiling to scurry over where he was directly above the hidden guard and quietly reached down to cover his mouth and dropped down to hit the back of his neck to knock him out.

Mikey then moved out to check on Leo again who was doing just fine on his own, as he had taken out a main guard and seemed to be well aware of the hidden one. However something still didn't seem right and this time Mikey was a second too late to find it.

Movement caught his eye behind his brother and he immediately thought it was another pirate; but as the form came into view he realized it was _Taro_. He got ready to throw something; thinking that he had gone traitor on them but it appeared that he was wrong; as the man was lifting the pipe he had brought with him over the head of the _guard_ that Leo had just knocked out and it was then that Mikey realized the danger.

Leo was so focused on his hidden target that he would react without thinking should something suddenly happen _behind_ him and even though there was no doubt that he'd be able to stop himself from killing Taro a more pressing matter would soon reveal itself."

"Leo no!" Mikey yelled as the sound of Taro's makeshift weapon swinging through the air caused his brother to instantly turn to defend himself; thus unintentionally leaving himself wide open to an attack from the guard who had just spotted him from behind.

If the older brother had registered Mikey's warning just a second or two later; Leo might not have _lived_ to regret it. But thankfully it was all he needed to realize that his _true_ target was _behind_ him and turned back around to find the hidden guard he had been stalking; swinging a freaking axe at his head.

Unfortunately he was too off balance to avoid it; so he was forced to parry the hatchet with his sword; which wasn't the best move on his part as his weapon had been in his _left_ hand at the time leaving him unprotected on his right and it seemed that his opponent was very much aware of this; as the guard quickly pulled a long knife from his belt and slashed at the turtle again.

Leo couldn't dodge it; not with the man barring down on him so he had to make a choice; to either loose his _head_ or loose his _arm_.

He chose the latter.

…

The pain was so sudden and so severe that Raph couldn't help crying out in shock and quickly placed his hand over the area on his lower right arm. However a second later he jumped as a small hand touched his own and he looked around to find the lady watching him with concern.

"It's okay." He told her quickly. "Don' ya worry, Donnie's gonna take good care of ya." He gave her a reassuring smile trying his damndest to not provoke her into a panic as she already looked terrible; the last thing she needed was a heart attack.

When he was sure she was okay he turned back to check on his little brother; which judging from the calm expression on his face _hadn't_ felt the phantom pain so he could continue to help the woman and her baby uninterrupted.

"I'll be right back, okay?" Raph told the mother while gently laying a hand on her shoulder; which caused her to clung to him for a second as if afraid that without his protection her rescue would reveal itself to be a dream. But she was able to slowly calm herself again and nodded understandingly before letting him go.

He quickly got up and made his way through the sea of sick and injured people and back over to the door; where with one hand on his sai; he checked the corridors for anything out of the ordinary. But nothing was amiss and he could only hope that didn't mean all the pirates were busy killing his missing brothers.

As that unpleasant thought passed through his head he couldn't help but grab the place on his arm that was still stinging like nobodies' business. He was sure it was Leo, for he was also sensing Mikey _panicking_ and knew that his baby brother wouldn't have been acting like that had he been the one in pain.

Unfortunately though he couldn't tell if the injury was serous; only that it had been a _blade_ that had caused it. Checking the hallway more thoroughly gave Raph a chance to calm his nerves before heading back into the prison to check on a few of the other people that he was worried about.

Thankfully his brother knew what he was doing as no one had died or gotten any worse under his watch, in fact most of them looked noticeably better; even in the short amount of time that the turtles had been there.

Raph was finding it difficult to function through the unpleasant feeling that he was more or less _useless_ now; as the only patients that remained were those that he just wasn't qualified to care for. But he'd get over it; besides they did seem to become more comfortable when he was near, like he was their personal manifestation of protection and one woman even _smiled_ at him as he walked by.

He smiled back at her and knelt to see if she needed anything but she only touched his hand in reassurance before closing her eyes to drift into a quiet sleep. As he got back to his feet; making sure he didn't disturb her; something started to _nag_ at him again.

He'd noticed that during his training time with Roku his ability to detect danger had become more and more potent, so he never ignored the feeling when it occurred and found himself looking around for the threat that his instincts _demanded_ was there.

And that's when his heart stopped.

"Donnie!" He called loudly as he realized that the injured fish mutant they had saved before was now pointing a _gun_ at his brother's head.

* * *

O.O

Oops!

I realize this is a bad chapter to do this; but it must be done.

…

I am currently in the process of moving and so I may or may not post next week because of it.

I'm sorry ;(

*Runs and hides*


	4. Chapter 3

Sorry for the slight delay, got a little distracted

but I won't keep you any longer

* * *

Chapter 3:

( _3_ _rd_ _:_ )

Quickly raising his right arm to defend himself; Leo held in his wince as the blade cut into his flesh but he fought against the pain and counterattacked before the man could take another swing at him and quickly threw his arm out wide moving safely around the blade just enough to avoid severe damage and collided his elbow into the guy's face.

This promptly knocked the guard off balance enough for Leo to deflect the axe, turn his sword and throw the hilt into the guy's chest; forcing the behemoth back several steps to where Leo could quickly reversed his sword again and crouch lower to protect his injured arm as well as defend himself better.

However it appeared that there was no longer any work he was required to do here; as Mikey had suddenly materialized behind his opponent at that moment and swung his nunchucks across the back of the man's skull so hard they heard bone crack and leveled him to the floor.

The guy promptly twitched like a dead bug for a second; but Mikey ignored him as he hooped over the body to assess the damage.

"Leo." He stated shakily; his hands hovering over his brother's wound in uncertainty.

"It's okay Mike." Leo assured him taking care to make direct eye contact; which allowed the younger to clam down and assess the situation again; which in turn brought his attention to something directly over Leo's shoulder and he flew to his feet again to snatch up Taro by his shirt collar and nearly lifted him straight off the ground in his fury.

"What the _hell_ did you think you were _doing_?" Mikey growled in the man's face leaving Leo so shocked by this sudden turn in his usually sweat disposition that he could do nothing more than stare at him for several seconds. "We _told_ you to wait by the _door_."

"Mikey!" Leo stated sternly; upon realizing that he was going to get them discovered if his volume continued to rise any farther. "Put him down." He ordered when his brother turned to look at him and quickly obeyed without question.

Under normal circumstances a simple hand on his shoulder would be enough to calm him down; but seeing as Leo's good hand was currently covered in _blood_ that particular exploit might not exact the reaction he wanted, but it allowed him another second to take in the situation and found that Taro's unwavering stare at the guard whom he had just bludgeoned probably required the bulk of his attention.

"Taro." He started again; trying to mimic Splinter's 'fatherly-disapproval voice;' which guarantied to always get their attention. "Why did you do that?" He added sternly.

"He _deserved_ it." Taro answered almost immediately; while still glaring at the man who was quickly being surrounded by a pool of dark water; which told Leo that it was already too late to save him.

In this day and age death was nothing new to him and he knew how to spot the signs; but this was different. The Hamato Clan was above killing; his ancestors may have been hired in the distant past to perform assassinations but no more.

His father believed in _life_ and he had taught them the same.

"And why is that?" Leo asked calmly causing the man to round on him in a rage.

"They _killed_ my –" He started to yell but paused before starting over. "She wasn't my wife." He admitted. "But she was – _going_ to be." He continued as he closed his fists into a white knuckled ball. "We were going to get married in the spring."

"So this was something _she_ wanted?" Leo asked waving his hand at the body on the ground. "Or was it _you_?"

"They're _monsters_." He yelled back at him quickly. "They _deserved_ it." He quoted again. "What if they had killed one of your _brothers_?" He asked suddenly and Leo couldn't help but twitch. "What if they had taken Donnie or Mi–"

"You're not a _God_ ,Taro." Leo interrupted in a voice that promised a living hell should he even _think_ of continuing with that question and the man immediately backed up several steps in obvious terror as he continued. "No one has the _right_ to say that death is _deserved_. We haven't even found a reason for _why_ they're doing this; you can't answerer that question with _revenge_?"

The blue-banded turtle gave him a minute to think that over before going on. "But now _I_ have caused the death of another." He stated suddenly and Mikey immediately turned to look at him in shook.

"Leo –" He started quickly but was interrupted.

"No mater how justified the cause; violence only begets more violence and more pain." Leo continued looking directly at Taro who was watching him in shock. " _I'm_ responsible for this." He stated looking back at the guard on the floor. "And I will reap the _punishments_."

"What do you mean?" Taro asked after a minute.

"Our clan _forbids_ killing and despite the fact that he was my enemy; that man was _alive_ only moments ago and might still be if _I_ had not knocked him out first." He explained simply. "I may very well be _exiled_ for this."

"That's not fair." Taro insisted suddenly and Leo quickly narrowed his eyes at him which caused the man to shut up once more.

"And _murdering_ an unarmed and unconscious man _is_?" The turtle demanded seriously; causing Taro to stare at him for a minute before finally turning away.

"I get it." He answered calmly. "My actions affect those around me." He quoted.

"It sounds to me like you've _heard_ that before." Leo declared holding up a hand to keep Mikey quiet when he made to make another comment on the subject.

"My father says that all the time." Taro admitted turning to look at the body again but suddenly seemed to be unable to take in the sight.

"Then maybe next time you'll _listen_." Leo told him sternly though he couldn't tell if the lesson he'd been attempting to teach was _learned_. But it would have to be enough for now; they still had a ship to move and he needed _Taro_ to move it.

And he would; whether he wanted to or not.

…

 _(Donnie's POV)_

 _"Donnie!"_

The urgency in my brother's voice nearly had me pulling out of my trance but I forced himself back in. I was almost finished; I could save the woman and her child but I needed a few more seconds.

I wasn't concerned; Raph always had my back and it was because of him that I could do my job in the middle of such a scene. He would protect me until I could protect myself.

I had _no_ doubt.

And so I quickly forced my attention back onto the job at hand and flushed the last of the toxins from the woman's system while simultaneously giving her everything she would need to save herself and her child from the drug's intrusion. In a matter of seconds I had finished and started my retreat back into the real world; leaving the nano-bots to do the rest.

I woke with a start as the sound of a gun going off had me jumping to my feet and I turned quickly to find Raph fighting with the fish mutant from before somehow managing to force the barrel of the weapon upward while he struggled to beat the man back into unconsciousness.

I quickly made my way into the fray just as another shot was fired and everyone in the area screamed in terror; trying to get away from the war zone. But before another bullet could fly I gripped the fish mutant's wrist and forced the pressure points in the area to release the gun to my brother who quickly got it away from the scene while I continued the fight.

The guy promptly swung out at me several times with his good hand; but I dodged and dodged until I could maneuver him into position and got behind where I quickly threw a karate-chop into the back of his neck sending him careening head first into the wall which knocked him out cold once again.

I eyed his crumpled form for a second before turning to check on Raph who was busy swearing up a storm and dismantling the gun with nothing but shear strength and an anger management disorder that should have earned him a place in the dictionary.

Right between _rage_ and _rile_.

"Raph" I said calmly as he finished dismembering the weapon and threw its remains to all corners of the room before flying around with his fists out looking for something else to hit. "Easy Rambo, he's down." I told him which caused my brother to give me a look before beginning his swearing streak again.

"Raph!" I insisted disapprovingly.

"What?" He growled as he whipped around again to face me.

"There are _ladies_ present." I informed him with a raised eye-ridge which had him immediately chilling out as he looked around at all the people watching him with eyes the size of pennies.

"Sorry" He offered as if he were talking of the weather and folded his arms to stare at something of interest near a random spot on the wall.

I had to force myself not to laugh at his show of antics and informed the people that everything was alright before turning back around to study the fish mutant again.

"That's a hell of a way to say 'thanks for savin' my life'." Raph proclaimed quietly as he walked up to keep an eye on the man as I knelt down to check the man's injuries again to make sure he hadn't caused any more damage. "I should a just left his lousy ass ta die."

"You and I both know you're too soft to do that." I proclaimed distractedly.

" _Soft_!" Raph repeated in an insulted tone. "No one calls me that, not even _you_." He growled.

"At least not in front of _people_ , right?" I added as I continued to check over the guy's body looking for something that I was sure had to be there – _somewhere_.

"Exactly!" Raph declared grumpily before realizing what I had said and quickly revised his answer. "I mean _no_ , not now not _ever_."

"Whatever you say, bro." I declared with a small laugh before finally locating what I had been looking for.

"And don' think that just because yar my brother I won't –"

"Raph!" I interrupted him and he quickly knelt down to see what I had found; all thoughts of threats and revenge forgotten as the tone of my voice changed to serious.

"What is it?" He asked immediately while I roiled the other mutant over to carefully sort through the scales on the front of his neck which revealed a now very familiar _scar_. "Ya gotta be kiddin' me, _them_ too?" He declared in shock.

"It doesn't end there." I reported; gently turning the guy onto his stomach and located another hidden scar as well as a – _bump_.

"Wait a minute." My brother stated; before reaching up to rub the back of his own neck.

"They're just like _us_ Raph." I revealed as I continued to study the area where the man's mind had been incarcerated and then dominated by the technology under his skin. "They're being _controlled_ by nano-bots."

…

( _3_ _rd_ _:_ )

' _Exiled!'_

That word kept repeating in Mikey's head as he followed Leo's orders and stood watch at the door; as he and Taro started the submarine again.

Would the elder's really send Leo away for this or was it just a tactic his brother was using to get into Taro's head? As the orange-banded turtle checked on the two people behind him once again he realized that what was bothering him the most was that he _didn't know_.

Normally he was pretty in-tune with his brother's; but for some reason he couldn't tell if Leo was lying; which was starting to make him wonder that maybe he _wasn't_.

There was no way, that couldn't happen.

He admitted that Leo's actions may have caused a death and he was more than aware of the elder's no-exceptions policy to their order of no-killing; but he hadn't actually killed the guy; surely the elders would see that and judge accordingly.

Turning back around to watch the hallway again; Mikey realized that again he really didn't know. It was a _rare_ occasion in deed that any of them were exposed to the more _serious_ side of the elders; but only _one_ of the turtles knew what would happen in the case of a broken decree – and that was _Leo._

However he only had time to dwell on this for another minute when a sudden loud noise interrupted his thoughts and he flew around to assess the threat with his chucks out and ready. But the only thing he found was Leo looking at one of the screens with an impressed look on his face as Taro disentangling himself from a cluster of wires to crawl out from under a desk.

"It worked!" The guy declared excitedly.

"Should we be worried he sounds so _surprised_?" Mikey asked discovering that the sound was simply the submarine starting up again.

"Terrified!" Taro answered absentmindedly as he turned on several more things before making his way to the big seat in front to take control of the wheel.

"According to Donnie we're only a couple miles off the coast." Leo told him as he took up position behind the guy. "It'll be directly south-west; our clan's waiting for us at Mie Daigaku Hospital."

"I know where that is." Taro responded; reaching over to flip a few switches and type in a few commands. "It's the old University right?" He guessed.

"That's right." Leo answered before looking back at his brother. "Mikey; go check on Raph and Donnie, see if they're ready to move."

"You'll be alright?" He asked unable to stop his eyes from drifting to Leo's arm. Even though he had tied off the cut and taken a second to have the nano-bots seal the wound it was still unnerving to see his brother covered in so much blood.

"I'll be fine." He assured him. "Just go see if those people are ready to be moved."

"Okay." He finally agreed after a short second of hesitation before rushing back into the hall.

It didn't take him long to use his orders to distract his mind from all the hard core thoughts swimming around up there; but just as he was starting to feel useful again that strange feeling of walking through an empty ship reared its ugly head and he began to expect everyone and their brother around every corner.

Except this time it wasn't just paranoia.

Less than two minutes into his return trip Mikey had to duck behind a pipe to avoid the attention of a group of pirates running down another hall ahead of him. However as they passed he noticed something over the sound of the 20+ stomping feet and realized that something was missing.

None of them were _talking_ ; you'd think at least one of them would be screaming orders but instead they were just focused on running; leaving Mikey to wait for the last of them to disappear before peeking out from his hiding place to raise an eye-ridge at the oddness of their situation.

For their first real mission it was turning into a real _strange_ one and he was starting to get an unpleasant feeling that it was a sign of things to come.

…

Leo made sure that Taro was doing as he was told before checking the hallway where he kept hearing people running up and down the halls and knew the pirates were close to finding them. But he also knew that as long as he secured the doorway he'd be able to hold them off; as they wouldn't be able to overwhelm him in such a small space.

Of course he was half tempted to just close and lock the door; but that might give them the idea to use another entrance that Leo didn't know about or just blow up the room instead of fighting him head on and he really wasn't in the mood for more surprises right now.

"Taro?" He said quietly as the sound of stomping feet got louder; as getting the submarine moving again unfortunately let every single enemy on the ship know exactly where they were. "How long?"

"We're picking up speed." He reported unhelpfully.

"I can see that." Leo told him as he unsheathed his sword again and ducked into a shadow by the door. "How long?" He repeated.

"Maybe – 10 minutes." The man finally guessed.

"That's _too_ long." Leo told him demandingly.

There was no way he could hold off an army of goons for 10 minutes with just one hand.

"What do you want me to do? This isn't The Nautilus." He declared as he began messing with a few more switches and levers. "Its top speed is only about 10 knots." The turtle couldn't help but swear under his breath in response to that; as movement caught his eye at the end of the hall.

'What kind of pirates spend all their money on a ship that couldn't even hit 12 miles per hour?'

"Whatever." Leo declared grumpily. "Just keep the damn thing going and _don't_ leave that spot."

"Why would I –" Taro started to ask before turning around and proceeded to freak out as pirates suddenly started to swarm the doorway. However Leo quickly bolted from his hiding spot to swing the heavy metal door right into their faces; causing the first wave to either collapse in an unconscious heap or fly back several feet from the force of the blow.

Unfortunately it didn't take the second wave too long to just walk over their fallen comrades and attack as well. But using the door as a shield and the small space to his advantage; Leo was able to limit the attackers to one at a time and hold them off fairly efficiently.

"Does that thing have an intercom?" He yelled back at Taro as he slammed the door in another guy's face where he parried a blow with his sword from another at the same time.

"I think so." The guy answered un-encouragingly.

"Start it up." Leo ordered before pulling the door back suddenly causing the guy who was leaning heavily on the other side to fall flat on his face where Leo swiftly kicked him back into the hall and slammed the door again on an unfortunate individual who had managed to get his arm in the room just in time to have it broken.

…

"What the hell are _you_ doin' here?" Raph demanded as Mikey ran into the room just as he and Donnie had finished tying the fish goon up so he couldn't cause any more trouble.

"The ship's started; can we move these guys now?" He asked in response; completely ignoring his older brother's question in the process.

"Most of them." Donnie answered and was about to voice his own question when he was interrupted.

" _Donnie_!" Leo's voice suddenly proclaimed loudly; causing them all to look around for the source.

"Yes?" Don calmly asked the speaker on the wall; obviously slightly annoyed at being interrupted but didn't show it.

" _I don't care what you have to do; but when we get home you_ _ **are**_ _going to finish those shell-cell things_." He ordered randomly and Raph couldn't help but laugh lightly under his breath in response.

"No _T-phones_!" Mikey declared suddenly. "We should call them T-phones; can't they call them T-phones?" He begged of Donnie who gave the box on the wall an evil look which was obviously meant for Leo.

"I don' know I personally liked turtle-comm." Raph added; which had his brother turning that glare on him; to which Raph just smiled; letting Donnie know that this was payback for the ' _soft_ ' comment earlier.

"Can we _focus_ please?" Donnie asked sourly, earning two matching smiles of annoyingness from his siblings. " _Aiya_." He added under his brother before looking back at the speaker as Leo continued.

" _Are the prisoners okay_?" He asked and they all quickly became serious again.

"Yeah; they'll be fine 'til we hit land. What's going on over there?" Donnie answered as Leo faded in and out with a company of static.

"Oh nothing; I just have an entire _army_ at my front door." He declared calmly before being interrupted again and a second later they heard a loud slam as he came back on; this time featuring a slightly winded tone and a background noise that sounded more like a constant barrage of metal banging on metal. "And I _could_ ; possiblyuse just a _little_ bit of help." He admitted and his brothers suddenly had a sinking feeling deep in their stomachs.

Leo _never_ asked for help and it was most likely even worse than that if he was forced to lock himself inside as well.

"He's hurt." Mikey suddenly proclaimed as he remembered that little fact.

"What?" Donnie asked in a panic.

"His arm." The youngest reported holding his right arm up as an example. "He caught a sword; I don't think he can use it."

"Damn it ta hell." Raph swore as he headed for the door again.

"Wait." Someone suddenly cried out and they turned back to find all the prisoners watching them with different levels of panic.

"Shit!" Raph commented; looking back at the hall longingly.

'Damn it; Leo _needed_ them, but they couldn't just leave all these people to fend for themselves, they were in no condition to fight.'

"I'll stay." Mikey commented suddenly causing his brothers to look at him in shock. "I'll protect them."

"No offence bro; but I'm getting' a little sick a this 'splitting-up-thing'." Raph told him grouchily. " _Everyone's_ goin' this time, _no one's_ stayin' behind." He ordered sternly.

"But –" The smaller turtle started to complain but Donnie promptly interrupted.

"It's okay." He said and they turned to watch him mess around with his wrist gizmo thing again; which suddenly ejected a little round doohickey into his hand which he then attached to the edge of the door.

After pushing a couple buttons on the thing he turned to stick another on the opposite side of the doorframe and motioned for them to get out into the hall before turning back to speak to the man who had nearly chased them out the door.

"Please don't go." He begged.

"It'll be okay." Donnie assured him as he handed over a little remote. "Use this; but only if you _need_ to open the door." He instructed him putting a big emphasis on the word _need_. "Other than that just stay here til we come get you." He added.

"But what if they come back?" Someone else asked.

"They won't be able to get in." Donnie assured them with a smile. "You'll be safe, I promise."

His brother's weren't sure if it was his 'I'm the doctor and I'm in charge' voice or the shear level of confidence that Donnie had in his tech; but the people were suddenly a lot calmer and seemed to have no doubt that they would indeed be unharmed.

But Donnie on the other hand didn't say another word as he closed the door and pushed a button on his gantlet that instructed the little gadget to lock it with a menacing thud and the sound of something turning; before starting down the hallway again to lead the way back to their solitary brother.

…

Donnie's gantlet-thing was doing a pretty good job of leading them to the bridge but he still let Mikey go first; as he'd already been there and knew the way.

A pipe shaped like a question mark, a rust stain that looked like Chester the Cheetah and a skid-mark on the floor that he swear said _meh_ ; were just a few of the things that the youngest turtle's brain had picked up and remembered as markers for correct paths and turning points.

But of course their destination was even more noticeable as the entrance hall to the bridge was now crowded with at least 70-something people all trying to bust down the door.

It was no wonder Leo had to lock himself inside.

"Now what?" Mikey asked his brothers worriedly as Raph moved to see the war zone better.

"Either they haven't noticed we're here or they have specific orders to get through that door." Donnie guessed causing his little brother to turn and give him a look.

"Why wouldn't they just find another way in?" He couldn't help but ask.

"Obviously they haven't been _programmed_ to think outside the box." Donnie answered without taking his eyes off the crowd.

"Programmed?" Mikey repeated in shock. "You mean they're –"

"Yeah." Don stated before he could finish and suddenly it all made sense.

Why the pirates wouldn't talk, why they acted like mindless zombies and why they wouldn't move when they had nothing better to do.

None of the turtles could remember what they had done under the control of Shredder's nano-bots as kids; but when they were old enough Splinter had told them what had happened.

Could this have been what happened to _them_ all those years ago?

Though they knew they weren't the _only_ ones to have fallen under Shredder's hand; to find more victims like them _here_ of all places was more than a little scary; for that meant that there was a good possibility _Shredder_ _himself_ was behind it. Did that mean he had found out they were alive, what if he was actually on the ship right now; waiting for them?

Though the brothers had all agreed that Shredder needed to be taken out; and had more or less decided to do the deed themselves when they were ready, but they _weren't_ ready, not for _that_.

"Mikey." Donnie said suddenly and the smaller turtle couldn't help but jump as his brother reached out to touch his shoulder. "It's okay." He told him reassuringly. "We can handle this and I doubt Shredder's here anyway."

Meeting his eyes Mikey could tell he was confident in that knowledge which helped him calm down again, at least a little.

"We need to stay focused and finish the mission." He continued seriously. "We'll figure this out _later_."

"Okay." Mikey responded quietly before realizing that something was missing or rather some _one_. "Where's Raph?" He asked quietly which caused Donnie to look a little lost for a second before turning around to see that their brother was indeed _gone_ and they both flew to the corner to find said turtle barreling toward the crowd of pirates like a bat-out-of-hell.

"He's out of his mind." Donnie commented as their older brother bulldozed through his targets one right after the other where he proceeded to ram them into walls, throw them into the ceiling and generally leave a lane of destruction and unconscious goons in his wake.

It took him maybe 3 minutes tops to clear the path to the door before turning back to them with a look that clearly said 'are you _coming_?'

"I guess that's _one_ _way_ to clear a path." Mikey stated and Donnie nodded in agreement before leading the way down the hall to meet up with him again.

"Raph!" Donnie hissed urgently when their friendly neighborhood hot-head suddenly threw his fist into the door as well; causing it to nearly bend itself right off its hinges in response to the force.

However before Raphael could make any move to enter Donnie grabbed his bandana and pulled him back just in time to avoid contact with the sharp blade of their oldest brother's sword.

"Damn it Leo." Raph swore as said individual straightened up from his defensive pose and gave him a criticizing look in return. "Is this how ya _thank_ someone for comin' ta save yar lousy ass?" He demanded as Leo gave the door an odd look before glaring at him again.

"You could have just _knocked_." He answered simply which made Raph even more unreasonable, if that was even possible.

" _Fine_ ; than ya can just save _yourself_ next time." He yelled in response.

"What took you so long?" Leo asked calmly as he sheathed his sword again and regarded him with another glare.

"WHAT?" Raph bellowed causing the younger two turtles to cover their ears so as not go deaf as his voice was magnified by the small hallway. "Of all the –" He started to yell before Donnie placed a hand over his mouth to shut him up.

"Okay; _true_ our enemy already knows we're here but that's really no reason to tempt fate." He stated truthfully earning a sideways glare from Raph for the interruption. "Don't look at me in that tone of voice; you two can have this argument anytime; _preferably_ when we get _home_." He ordered calmly before letting go of his face and moved over to examine Leo's injury.

"Whatever." Raph declared and folded his arms grumpily; as Donnie got to work stitching and bandaging the wound.

"Land-ho." Mikey proclaimed a few minutes later and they looked around to find him pointing at one of the screens in excitement causing Taro and Raph to quickly move over to have a look for themselves; but didn't seem as convinced.

"Where?" Taro asked squinting at the screen in confusion.

"Trust me; it's there." Mikey stated without doubt. "We should probably get this thing to the surface don't ya think?" He asked causing them all to look at him in surprise. "What?" He stated. "Adventures of Silver Sentry issue 74; He had to drive this cool ass submarine with these –"

"Ok, ok, we get it." Raph interrupted before turning their little brother back around to face the screen. "Just keep an eye on that land and find the hospital."

"Am I the only one that _hears_ that?" Donnie suddenly asked after tying off Leo's injury and realized that he was picking up the sound of _feet_ and everyone quickly shut up; causing the sound to immediately get louder and they realized with a healthy level of dread that it _wasn't_ in their heads.

Leo, Raph and Donnie quickly bolted for the door and found the sound to be about 100 times louder than before.

"Shit." Raph stated simply. "That's a _lot_ a pirates."

"Get the door!" Leo ordered and Raph quickly tried to right the gate with very little success.

"Damn it." He swore as the army they'd been hearing was suddenly not just an _audible_ one; and came barreling around a corner down the hall to head toward them in droves as the three turtles quickly braced the door as much as they could just before the pounding started again; except this time there was the obvious assistance of a battering ram as well.

"Have we learned the value of _knocking_ yet?" Leo growled in Raph's direction.

"Oh shut up." He groaned sourly just before a loud * _whoosh_ * was heard in the hallway and suddenly all they could see on the other side was _fire_.

"Gettin' kind a _hot_ in here." Raph reported unhelpfully a minute later as the solid metal door started to heat up and was followed a second later by another hard pound from the other side; as the pirates threw their big battering ram into the door again, but thankfully the brothers managed to hold on and not loose any ground.

"I'm working on it." Leo growled at him as he tried to think through the situation quickly to find any kind of out.

'How in the hell did they have enough room to torch them _and_ ram them at the same time anyway?'

"Well work faster." Raph proclaimed and Leo was about to tell him to shut up when Donnie suddenly let out a pained yelp before flipping around to press his back to the door instead so he could hold his hands painfully; which had obviously just been burned by the hot metal.

"Are you okay?" Leo yelled over the roaring of the fire.

"I'll be fine." He reported even though he was obviously in pain.

"Turn!" Leo ordered Raph after another ram hit the door and they both turned to face their shells against the door as well, even though they wouldn't be able to control their leverage that way it would help to protect them from the fire.

"Leo; I don't mean to be the bearer of more bad news but –" Donnie proclaimed and his brothers looked over nervously to find him pointing up at something. However following his finger only led to the discovery of a large pipe hanging from the ceiling that declared in big red and yellow letters that it was filled with – _propane_.

"Oh shit!" Raph swore as he read the label as well. "What kind a pirates keep _flame_ _throwers_ and _propane_ on the same ship?" He grumbled.

"The kind that aren't _programmed_ to care about their own lives." Donnie answered simply.

"Mikey; we need an out." Leo quickly yelled to their little brother who had been looking for something that they could use to block the door.

"No good." He reported. "There isn't another exit and everything's bolted to the floor."

"Donnie?" Leo redirected quickly but his brother only shook his head.

"Not happening; these walls are several _feet_ thick." Donatello explained seriously. "It'll take me _hours_ to cut through it."

Leo was about to see if Raph thought he could force his way through instead when the whole ship came to a very sudden and violent _stop_ ; sending everyone flying toward the opposite wall.

Raph and Leo quickly collide with the first row of tables – _hard;_ but thanks to their training they managed to avoid serious injury. Donnie was unlucky enough to miss the first row but managed to stop himself on the second and they couldn't even see Mikey or Taro anymore.

"What happened?" Leo demanded of the room immediately.

"We _hit_ something." Taro announced from the far left corner.

"What?" Leo insisted.

"I don't know." Taro reported through gritted teeth; obviously having been hurt in the sudden jolt; but he wasn't unconscious so that had to count for something. "It wasn't there a minute ago." He finished.

Rising to his full height again; ready for another go around with the fire and the pirates; Raph and Leo were about to bolt for the door again when they realized that their world was – _tipping_.

"Oh for cryin' out loud." Raph swore irritably as the ship quickly started to upend itself and they heard several thumps in the hall as the pirates outside where thrown into their only barricade.

Knowing there was no way to hold the line anymore and that it wouldn't take long for the melted hinges to give way Leo quickly gave the order to move, but none of them needed to be told twice in fact they didn't need to be told once; as they were all booking it behind command tables and walls before he had even said anything.

However they couldn't help but look up as the big metal door suddenly collapsed and admitted some seriously unwelcome guests as well as their own personal fire-makers and to make matters worse at least _one_ of the flamethrowers was dislodged in the chaos and left to skitter its way to the front of the room (which was currently the floor) where it continued shooting high powered fire unmanned into the room; to incur the wrath of all sorts of unknown chemicals.

Looking up again Raph found the whole universe had apparently decided to stand against them; as the pirates had righted themselves and were now cautiously climbing into the room without problem.

"Leo." He announced quickly as his brother noticed the same thing.

"Yeah." The blue-clad ninja responded as they both pulled out their weapons; ready for the upcoming fight that was not likely to come; as the pirates had once again started flaming the joint. However this time it was also accompanied by a barrage of _bullets_.

"In case we don' make it." Raph started again sappily; causing Leo to immediately turn to tell him otherwise but was cut off as Raph continued. "It's been _fun_." He added quickly.

This forced Leo to pause and stare at him for a second in shock; obviously having expected something completely different. But it didn't take long for him to realize what his brother had meant and his expression slowly melted into a _smile_.

Even if they never admitted it; this was what they _wanted_. So what if the mission had failed, if they were going to go out they were going to do it _together_ or not at all.

"Yeah." Leo finally agreed. "It _has_."

"Guys!" Donnie suddenly yelled urgently and they turned to find him pulling Mikey into a little hidden crevasse in the wall. "Get _over_ here!" He ordered and they bolted for the shelter upon finding that the pipes above their heads were nearly _glowing_ red with the heat and knew immediately that it was going to blow any second.

Upon reaching the gap in the wall; Raph immediately tackled Mikey to the ground, intending to protect him with his own body as the pressure of the explosion finally reached its boiling point and everything went black.

* * *

Meh!

R&R


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

( _3_ _rd_ _:_ )

'Ow!'

Mikey's thoughts were a scramble of painful noises as consciousness slowly started to ebb into existence and he came to the realization that he was insanely sore.

"Michelangelo." A voice said kindly and he scrunched up my face in concentration trying to figure out who it was and where he had heard it before.

"Michelangelo?" The voice said again a bit more demandingly. "I know you're awake, please open your eyes." Realizing he had been found out Mikey decided to comply and looked around to find Elder Jyu looking down at him with a relieved expression; but he couldn't help but raise an eye-ridge at her in confusion.

'When did she get here?'

"There you are." She said calmly. "How are you feeling?"

"Hurts." He answered simply before trying to sit up; but she quickly put a hand on his plastron and gently pushed him back into the bed. "What happened?" He croaked; looking around quizzically as he realized that he was in the infirmary. "What happened to the sub?" He added randomly which brought the memories flying back and he nearly jumped straight off the bed in his haste to find his brothers.

"Michelangelo!" Jyu argued insistently; trying to get him to lie back down again as he doubled over from the intense pain that had radiated through his body with the motion, but he didn't care; he needed to find his _brothers_.

Looking around again Mikey realized that the other beds in the room where – _empty_ ; which caused his panic to rise more and more by the second.

"Raph?" He asked the area quietly. "Donnie, Leo?" He added quickly turning to look at the other side of the room while Jyu continued to try and get him to lie down.

"Michelangelo; it is alright." She assured him but for some reason he couldn't find it in him to believe her. However she wasn't the type to take being ignored gracefully and quickly grabbed the turtle's face to turn him around and focus his eyes intently on her.

"Your brothers are _safe_." She added quickly and he couldn't help but stare at her in shock. "They are just receiving burn treatment." She explained. "They are _all_ safe, I promise."

"They're – okay?" Mikey asked slowly; clearly feeling tears roll down his checks now.

"Yes!" She answered confidently giving him a sad look as she released his face and moved to wipe away the tears. "Everything is alright." She said gently before bringing him into a warm hug. "It's okay." She shushed kindly as he clung to her robe looking for any kind of comfort she could offer.

She sat there with the youngest brother for several minutes; trying to clam him down, but never once commented on his _un-ninja_ like actions. Of course he didn't expect her to either; after all she had been the one to _encourage_ their tears; explaining that the connection between them and their emotions was a strong one and to deny their bodies that small comfort was unhealthy.

"Can I see them?" Mikey asked quietly after he could finally speak again and she looked down at him softly and smiled.

"Sometimes I forget you are still just children." She admitted before finally nodding and took a minute to help him sit up as she used her foot to roll a wheel chair over; insisting that even though his injuries weren't serious was no reason to tempt fate.

She only had to push him down the hall for about a minute before coming to the treatment room and Mikey reached out to push the door open so she wouldn't have to come around. However upon entering the room he bolted from his chair despite her protests and ran to the first bed he could see where he proceeded to give Leo a big bear hug.

The doctors working on him immediately complained; but only momentarily before letting the turtle have his way, as he started touching his brother's face trying to make sure he was okay and not some kind of illusion.

"It's okay Mike." Leo told him quietly though his voice was lower than usual and creaked with discomfort; but other than that he refused to show he was in any pain.

"You sure?" Mikey asked quickly and checked him over again himself as Jyu came up behind with the wheel chair and forced him to sit again.

Leo's right arm had been cleaned and wrapped again and several areas on his body featured some pretty nasty burns but other than that he looked fine. However when Mikey was sure his brother wasn't lying just to make him feel better he looked around for his other two siblings.

Raph was in the bed on the left; fast asleep as another doctor worked to carefully bandage the remainder of his wounds. Turning to look the other way however Mikey discovered Donnie sitting up in his bed; having already been taken care of.

Deciding to wait on Raph so he wasn't in the doctor's way; Mikey moved over to check on his slightly older brother.

"Hey." Donnie stated with a smile and Mikey couldn't help but smile back before jumping form his chair again to hug him as well. It was pretty sudden so Donnie had to adjust quickly so they didn't knock their heads together; which was when Mikey clearly felt him _wince_ in discomfort.

He was prepared to pull away again but his brother only moved to hug him back and suddenly Mikey found that he couldn't let him go just yet. "It's okay little brother, it's okay." Donnie whispered in his ear reassuringly. "Everything's alright now."

…

 _(Donnie's POV)_

After going to check on Raph; or at least as much as he could without getting in anyone's way Mikey returned to my bed where he curled up into my side the way he used to when we were little and fell asleep within minutes; having obviously worried himself into exhaustion; but there were no other patients in the room for the doctors to worry about him disturbing so they let him stay.

From what I could see Raph had sustained the most damage but it was still pretty miner. Leo had some burns and a sore throat and Mikey had barely been hurt at all. Compared to what _could_ have happened I couldn't help but think we'd gotten off easy; which made me wonder _why_.

It was possible that the explosion wasn't as big as I had thought; but we had still been right underneath the blaze. Even my last ditch effort to get everyone into the corner was only meant to _possibly_ save our lives; I had still expected to be severally injured or worse.

So what happened?

I was still mulling it over a few minutes later when the door suddenly flew open and Splinter rushed inside. I don't think I've ever seen him so panicked but when he saw that we were all safe he quickly breathed out a sigh of relief and walked over to place himself between our beds; where he gave us all a hug.

"He's okay." I told him when my father looked worriedly in Raph's direction which brought his attention back to me where he slowly smiled and nodded; showing complete faith in my ability to know that; even from a distance.

"Father?" Leo asked then and Splinter promptly turned to him. "What happened?" He finally added after a couple seconds of thought but the ninja master only shook his head.

"I'm afraid I do not know." He admitted solemnly. "The ship ran-a-ground then the bridge exploded. They were able to reach you before the flames did; but you were remarkably unharmed."

"We should have died." I stated suddenly causing everyone to flinch even myself. "Sorry." I added quietly.

"Speak for yourself." Raph suddenly proclaimed in a grouchy voice as he attempted to sit up in his bed; hardly even noticing that he had two doctors attempting to push him back down with little effect.

Splinter decided to come to their aid a second later as he walked over to check on our brother. "Raphael." He stated evenly; reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder. "Please lie down."

With that Raph looked sourly at the surgeons who were still pushing against him with everything they had before doing as our father had asked and returned to his pillow without a fuss; where Mikey promptly give him the hug he had been holding in as Leo and I maneuvered about so we could be included in the group.

It didn't take long before Mikey curled up into Raph's side and fell asleep again and Raph joined him after attempting to fight off the pain medication he'd been given for about an hour; before finally passing out from pure exhaustion which gave me the chance to check them all over and make sure they were really okay.

If I remember correctly Raph had been the closest to the explosion; choosing to protect the rest of us with his own body, so it wasn't that surprising that he would have the most injuries, however even he had come away relatively unscathed.

There was a nasty bruise on the left side of his head which had clearly resulted in his unconsciousness and the same shoulder was wrapped in a few layers of bandages but other than that he just seemed more irritated than hurt.

Leo was obviously very sore; but moving easier and easier as the healing process continued. I kept coughing as my body attempted to rid my lungs of the smoke I had inhaled but other than that I was fine, and Mikey's pain was mostly psychological; which he was getting over quickly now that we were together again.

I tried to listen when Jordan came in some time later with a few ideas about how we had survived but none of them seemed all that promising and I eventually succumbed to the medication like my brothers; which showed how much I really didn't _care_.

Just the knowledge alone that we were still alive and together allowed us to sleep soundly through the night; our mission all but forgotten for the time being.

…

( _3_ _rd_ _:_ )

Leo was the first to open his eyes the next morning; only to find a beam of sunlight peeking through the curtains to warm his face. Looking around again he found Donnie still sleeping at the foot of his bed and couldn't help but cringe at his brother position.

He really needed to talk to him about sleeping on his desk; it was turning into a really bad habit, he was getting as bad as Mikey when it came to sleeping in odd places.

Speaking of Mikey; it appeared that he had commandeered Raph's pillow in the night as well as most of his bed; as the poor red-clad ninja was now balanced precariously on the edge just a few inches from waking up on the floor.

"Did you sleep well, my son?" Splinter asked then and Leo turned to look in his direction to find him smiling warmly.

"Kind a." He admitted rubbing his neck sorely as his father he nodded understandingly before speaking again.

"I thought you would like to know that all of the prisoners on the ship have been treated and are recovering."

"That's great." Leo answered quietly not able to stop himself from grinning slightly as he turned to look at Donnie again. His brother really did have something worthy of praise; he'd hate to think what might have happened to those people had he not been there to bring them back from the brink.

"Also –" Splinter added and he turned to look at him again. "The pirates have been apprehended; Mr. Perry and Leatherhead have been working to gather any useful information from them and are trying to free them from the nano-bots."

Leo nodded in understanding not really having anything to say to that.

"However; Jordan has studied the bots and discovered that they are _not_ the same as yours." He continued a minute later and the turtle couldn't help but sit up straighter in shock.

"They're _not_?"

"No." He answered with a little shake of his head. "It would appear that Shredder has nothing to do with this."

"Or that could just be what he _wants_ us to think." Leo added solemnly and the ninja master smiled.

"True." He admitted. "We will remain vigilant."

"'Bout what?" Mikey asked tiredly as he sat up and stretched; nearly knocking Raph completely off the bed in the process. But thankfully for the turtle managed to wake up and catch himself before hitting the floor and promptly attempted to whack hus annoying orange-clad brother; but missed as his target scampered away to another corner of the room; where Raph wasn't currently willing to chase him to; as he was still deep in the thralls of a half-sleep state.

A second later Donnie was sitting up as well and Splinter spent the next several minutes telling them all about what had transpired after the explosion until Jyu meandered through the doors to check on their injuries.

"I want a list of everything you've feed these four in the last 10 years." She commanded of Splinter randomly as she unwrapped Leo's arm only to discover that the cut had completely healed itself. There was still a dark scar where it had once been which would probably never go away, but he wasn't concerned.

He'd never been the type to care about his _image_.

Splinter made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a sigh as she moved onto Raphael and carefully removed the bandages around his shoulder which revealed that his _shell_ had actually been _cracked._

"Whoa! Dude!" Mikey proclaimed instantly in shock; however Raph looked far more _pleased_ than anything.

Only Raph would _like_ receiving an injury if it made him look cooler.

"You look like you got your ass kicked." Mikey laughed mercilessly causing his victim to promptly glare in his direction.

"Michelangelo!" Splinter protested and raised a disapproving eyebrow at his choice of language.

"Sorry Sensei." Mikey quickly apologized swallowing his laughter so he would look more sincere; which only caused their father to roil his eyes.

"Does it hurt?" Donnie asked randomly as he switched beds and carefully ran his finger across the gagged edge of Raph's plastron experimentally. This was the first time any of them had seriously damaged their shells and he was obviously prepared to take advantage of the opportunity to gather as much information as he could for future reference.

"Not really." The red-banded ninja answered as he rotated his shoulder experimentally; growing more and more accustomed to the missing piece.

"We removed a rather _sizable_ piece of metal from his shoulder." Jyu explained as she roiled the little table in the corner over to show them a towel where a jagged shard of some kind of unfamiliar material sat sporting a dark red stain on one edge. "We're not sure what it _is_ though." She admitted solemnly. "Leatherhead took a sample and they're testing it now."

"It looks like a lighting bolt." Mikey advertised off topic and everyone looked back around as the little twit poked and prodded his older brother before Raph swatted him upside the head for it.

They continued to pester each other and act as if it was all simply fun and games but Leo couldn't see it that way. Something had _pierced_ Raph's shell; an armor they had come to think was _impenetrable_ which to him only meant one thing.

An _enemy_ had _breached_ their defenses.

…

"Leonardo?" A voice said quietly as said turtle played a _rousing_ game of solitary on the end of his bed and looked up to find Ichi standing in the doorway.

"Sensei." Leo said; quickly getting to his feet and making sure to touch Donnie's shell so his brother knew he was leaving before walking up to the older mutant with a bow.

"Walk with me." The tiger requested and led the way down the hall.

"You did well, Leonardo." He added a few minutes later as they made their way outside. "I'm proud to call you my student."

"Sensei, I need to tell you something." Leo stated on auto-pilot as he turned around to face the tiger.

"Would this have anything to do with the man Taro killed?" He asked before the younger ninja could continue and Leo proceeded to look at him in shock. "He was quit relentless about telling me that it was all his fault, apparently he believed you would be _exiled_ had he not."

"I admit I may have misled him." Leo stated quietly before starting again. "But –"

"It was _not_ your doing, Leonardo. You will _not_ be exiled." The older man continued seriously as he began to walk again. "But that being said; do not _forget_ that a life was lost today."

"I won't." Leo answered sternly as Ichi removed the sword from his belt so he could sit under a tree and the turtle quickly joined him.

"How is your arm?" The older mutant started again after a minute; causing Leo to look at the injury as he answered.

"Donnie say's I'll live."

Ichi smiled at the comment before going on. "It would seem you have a _blind spot_." He added and Leo deflated slightly as he sighed in admittance to that little fact.

"I noticed." He said sourly.

"And I believe I know _why_." He added and Leo looked up again quietly as the man held out his hand. "May I?"

Understanding completely what it was that he wanted; Leo swiftly removed both the sword and sheath from his back and laid it gently in his master's hand so he could examine it.

"There is a strange detail I noticed about this blade the first moment I saw it." Ichi informed him gently; still watching the katana sternly. "You are _right handed_ correct?" He suddenly asked.

"Yes." Leo answered slightly confused.

"Than you are aware that this is a _left handed_ blade?" He added holding up the sword to show the turtle and suddenly the truth of that hit Leo like a ton of bricks. How had he never noticed that before?

"I'm not surprised you didn't see." Ichi continued sheathing the blade again as he spoke. "The way you weld it is something akin to the _divine_ , you would have thought nothing of it unless the knowledge was _shown_ to you."

"So what does that mean?" Leo asked quietly hoping that his Sensei had an answer for the dilemma.

"It means that your weapon is _incomplete_." He stated seriously and Leo deflated as he realized what that meant.

"So – I'll have to find _another_ one?" He stated more than asked; however Ichi just smiled warmly at him before reaching out to give the sword back.

"I admit that I too feared this as a truth, but now I see something different." He proclaimed causing Leo to immediately perk up again and give him his full attention as the man went on. "I believe you must instead take up _another_ sword."

"A _wakizashi_?" Leo asked quickly; knowing that it wasn't uncommon for warriors of old to weld the smaller swords next to their katana.

"No!" Ichi countered immediately and Leo did a double-take as he became even more confused. "I believe you are in fact more than skilled enough to weld _two_ katana."

" _Two_ – but –" Leo started quizzically.

That made no sense; true one could easily dual wield a katana in-tandem with a _wakizashi_ using the shorter, _lighter_ blade to parry. But the katana was a much heavier weapon; it was never meant to be wielded with just one hand.

He couldn't deny that it would be _cool_ but _practical_ – not so much.

"I understand your confusion." Ichi went on with a smile as Leo tried to riddle out what he was thinking. "I too thought long and hard about this but I am certain you are capable of doing it." Leo was about to complain again when the man continued. "Perhaps _this_ will help you make your decision." He added and quietly reached down to pick up his own sword, _unsheathed_ it and then held it out to the younger ninja.

"What?" Leo proclaimed breathlessly as he eyed the beautiful blade.

"Take it up Leonardo." He advised gently but the turtle shook his head in refusal.

In the days of the samurai the katana was thought to be their _soul_ , to pick up another warrior's sword in its purest _naked_ form was the worst kind of offence.

"It too was forged on the sacred grounds." Ichi admitted suddenly looking down at the blade in his hands admiringly. "It is my most prized possession; which is _why_ I am _giving_ it to _you_."

"I can't." Leo told him seriously causing the older man to smile again before reaching out to take his hand and placed the sword in his palm.

"You _can_." He corrected. "It was passed down to me by my master and to him by his. I _want_ it to live on." He said quietly as he wrapped Leo hand around the hilt before finally pulling away.

"What do you mean?" Leo had to ask in response to the _sad_ tone in his master's voice as he spoke his last words.

"It wasthe _last_." He suddenly admitted and Leo looked at him in shock. "Until _yours_."

"You mean –"

"Yes." He interrupted. "All the other weapons that were created on that mountain have been destroyed or lost to time. The only two that remain now lie in _your_ hands; they are _brothers_ in their own right and a bond forged by fireshould _never_ be broken."

…

The next day

When Jyu finally released the turtles from her care around noon; Raph had the sneaky suspicion it wasn't just because they were deemed healthy to go home but rather that they were driving her completely insane. But hey she really should have thought ahead before locking four claustrophobic teenagers in a little hospital room.

However as the brothers followed Splinter to the courtyard where Ichi and the other elders were waiting to speak with them about the outcome of their Jounin test; Raph suddenly found himself under attack from a white, pink and green colored something that had appeared from nowhere to flatten him into the side of a flowerbed.

It took the turtle all of a second to prepare his sai for defense but soon found the action to be pointless as he looked around to discover that it was only _Lisa_.

"I was so worried about you." She squealed and proceeded to hug the stuffing out of him embarrassingly; causing Mikey and Leo to promptly fall against each other trying to stay upright through a round of chuckles.

"I will never understand how she _always_ manages to sneak up on you." Donnie informed his brother with a grin as Lisa finally let him go; enabling the hot-head to appear more threatening as he turned to glare at his sibling.

"I really wish ya'd _stop_ doin' that." Raph then told the girl grouchily. "Ya realize I could a _killed_ you?" He added seriously holding up his sai as confirmation of the action.

She seemed to think about that for half a second before dismissing the idea with a wave of her hand. "You say that like you're _heartless_ Raphie." She proclaimed before accepting Leo's hand of assistance and hopped back to her feet.

" _Raphie_?" Donnie repeated with a smirk causing their other two brothers to once again drown in a swarm of giggles. Even though turtles technically didn't have the capacity to _blush_ ; Raph still swore that he could feel himself turning red as he jumped up to growl in his brother's face.

"Ya repeat that again and you and me are gonna have _words_." He threatened; but Donnie didn't even so much as twitch before doubling over in a fit of hysterics as well and Raph promptly looked skyward as he face-palmed and muttered something about suitable body-dumps.

"So?" Lisa suddenly interrupted happily; threading her arm through Raph's; forcing him into close proximity with her body which only made his fictional blush grow bigger and his strength receded to the point of nonexistence. "I heard this was your big test, so did you pass?" She asked as they all started walking again.

Raph found himself unable to answer; as his ability to speak failed him as well but thankfully Leo came to his rescue.

"We're not sure yet." He stated kindly. "We're going to talk to the elders now."

"Cool!" She squealed excitedly using Raph as a balancing pole so she could jump up and down as they walked. "I'm so happy for you guys." She added hugging him again as she danced around. "We _have_ to go celebrate tonight."

"We don't even know if we passed." Donnie informed her truthfully but they'd learned over the years that Lisa wasn't the type of person to be denied.

"You guys risked your _lives_ ; of course you passed." She proclaimed stubbornly.

"It's not that simple Lisa." Leo tried next but she quickly put him in his place as well.

" _Oh please_ ; they'd have to be _idiots_ not to make you guys' ninja."

"She's got a point." Michelangelo agreed randomly.

"Mikey!" Leo growled at him disapprovingly; earning a fake little smile from the youngest sibling as they neared the center of the courtyard where they could see all six elders including Splinter waiting for the turtles to join them.

"Okay Lisa." Raph was finally able to say as they reached the spot. "Time for ya ta go."

"Nonsense." Shichi notified dismissively. "Let her stay." It was hard to tell if the other elders agreed; but they didn't say anything, most likely because they were aware that both women had a tendency to be stubborn.

Lisa nearly pulled the red-banded turtle straight to the ground as she sat down taking his arm with her and he quickly gave his brothers another glower as they each gave him an individual smirk before flat-out ignoring them.

"I must say I am impressed." Ichi finally stated after everyone had gone silent. "Though it was not our intention for things to get so – out-of-hand; you accomplished your mission and saved many lives and for that I am very _proud_ of you."

"Here-here." Roku agreed with a smile.

"However –" Ichi started again suddenly serious which made the four brothers a little nervous. "I do _hope_ you will reframe from giving us a _heart_ - _attack_ in the future." He added sourly making sure each of them received a very stern look.

"Sorry." They all announced at once with a few innocent little smiles thrown in for good measure and Ichi sighed loudly as if he was well aware that such a request could never be granted.

At least not from _them_.

It took the tiger mutant another second or two to get the mutters of ' _kids_ ' out of his system; before slowly pushing a small wooden box that had been sitting at his side toward the younger mutants; who looked at it closely to discover that it was in fact the _same_ box they had received our bandanas from.

Donnie, Mikey, Lisa and Raph immediately leaned over to see what was inside as Leo reached out to open the lid only for the turtles to all take in a collective breath of aw when four highly crafted _tantōs_ were revealed.

They proceeded to take turns retrieving the blade in their respective colors and honestly couldn't stop themselves from smiling. The handles were steady, the blades; solid and the sheaths came away without even a whisper of sound.

This was craftsmanship at its _finest_.

As he continued to run his hand over the intricate golden patterns; Leo realized that they must have been designed _specifically_ for them, as there was no other reason for the normal detailing of the _dragon_ to be replaced with that of _water_ and looking closer they also noticed another old symbol; one that looked suspiciously like a –

" _Unami_." Ichi stated suddenly with a smile and they all quickly looked at him again. "That is its _name_." He explained motioning toward the golden _turtle_ that decorated their blades.

"It was the title given to a tribe known as the People Down River, but they are more commonly called – the _Turtle_ _Clan_." He explained calmly before suddenly smiling with amusement. "It is actually most _fitting_ for they are a people who once occupied the island now known today as – _New_ _York_."

The turtles couldn't help but smirk as that information set in and they became fully enthralled in the irony of such a title.

"Sensei!" Leo spoke up then and everyone looked at him as he seemed to muddle over something important. "These blades – they would have taken – _months_ to craft."

"This is true Leonardo." Ichi informed him.

"But –" The young ninja went on anyway; still baffled about it for some reason. "We only _just_ finished our training."

Ichi smiled warmly at his words before answering. "Correct again."

"But – you – we –" Leo kept trying; until Mikey finally reached out to lay a hand on his shoulder.

"Dude if you think about it too much your head's gonna explode, _just_ _go_ _with_ _it_." He added in a whisper causing Lisa to snicker quietly.

"Now than." The tiger mutant finally continued when given the chance. "Allow me the honor of being the _first_ to congratulate you." He stated before actually _bowing_ to them as he finished his speech.

"You are now – _Ninja_."

* * *

I realized this last part was a little late to the game and probably should have been in Part 3.

But oh well; it fits.

"Also"

The _Unami_ (The Turtle Clan) was an _**actual**_ tribe of people that really _**did**_ live in New York. X)

I thought that was pretty cool.

R&R


	6. Chapter 5

Halu: You are absolutely right; thank you for reminding me. I'm so sorry everyone for not getting this up yesterday, it's been one of those weeks that I can't seem to remember which day it is…Sorry, sorry, sorry

* * *

Chapter 5:

A few months later

( _Donnie's POV_ )

It had been a few months since we saved the crew of the little fishing ship known as Farwide. Taro and the others were recovering nicely at the collage-turned-hospital which was where I found myself meeting _Yuzuki_ ; the mother I had befriended on the submarine.

She was always pleased to see me and more than happy to let me check her heath. Considering I had tired a new kind of healing on both her and her child I felt obligated to stay with her for the rest of her pregnancy. She was still three months away but I was glad to see they were both healthy and whole.

"You sure you don't want to know?" I asked with a smile and she shook her head. "Alright." I was aware that the father had actually been one of the mutants that were killed in the raid and also that he had continued to follow the codes of his pack after his mutation. Part of that code was for the sex of their child to remain _unknown_ until birth.

"So what are ya gonna name him – or her?" Raph added as he continued to stand in the corner of the room, always present in the off chance that he was needed.

Yuzuki just smiled again before extracting a pad of paper from her bag, flipped a few pages and handed it to him.

" _Midori_ or _Mamoru_ huh?" Raph read with a knowing little grin. "I like that." Yuzuki smiled at him again as he returned the book and then looked back at me.

"Everything seems fine." I told her gently and carefully reached out to help her sit up again. "Would you like us to walk you home?" She just shook her head again and gave me a couple of hand signs indicating that she needed to do some shopping and didn't want to keep us.

"Ah, it's no big deal. You know we like hangin with ya." Raph informed her but she insistently shook her head again and he forfeited. "Alright mommy, whatever ya say." Her only response was to gently flick him on the forehead before leaving the room with a wave.

"You're such a dork." I told him when we were alone again and I carefully made to put away my supplies before returning the bag to my back.

"Einstein." Raph countered effortlessly as we moved to exit the room via the window and climbed up to the roof.

"Fruitcake."

"Geek."

" – Hello?" I answered as we reached the top of the building and my brother quickly appeared at my side.

"What kind a insult is _that_?" He proclaimed with a scoff but my only response was to redirect him toward the people I had _really_ been speaking to. "Oh." He stated upon seeing the line of black clad individuals circling us from all sides.

"Right than." I started again with a fake smile and began forcing Raph to walk in the opposite direction. "We'll just leave you guys to your – _looming_." I suggested but couldn't help but sigh when the only answer we received was for them to point their guns in our direction.

"Or we could duke-it-out right here." Raph proclaimed with a grin as he removed his sai from his belt.

'Honestly, was it a _rule_ that older brothers had to be stubborn?' I thought to myself sourly before speaking out loud. "Raph, we don't need anyone dying on the roof of a _hospital_."

"I'm not gonna _die_." He answered absentmindedly as he took a few threatening steps toward our new friends.

"I didn't mean _you_."

Unfortunately that was all the bantering we managed to get in before the black clad marauders suddenly opened fire we were forced to immediately start dodging and ducking around the roof in an attempt to get up close and personal with these weirdoes.

Waiting until I was within range of my first target I whipped out my staff and took the man's legs out from under him; then using the momentum I proceeded to clunk another guy across the head before finally coming back down to knock the first one out.

My brother and I continued working our way through the line until only one was left standing, which Raph promptly lifted right off his feet to glare in his face.

"What do ya want, _who_ sent ya?" He demanded as I studied the others lying around on the ground in various forms of unconsciousness.

"Raph, something's not right here." I stated truthfully even though I was pretty sure my brother too had noticed just how _easily_ they had all gone down, almost like they were –

 _A decoy_

Before my brain really had a chance to keep up I was instinctively turning around to face the _mob_ that had used the distraction to sneak up behind us and quickly tackled Raph as they started to open fire as well.

We just barely managed to make it behind a group of air conditioners as a whole colony of little darts started flying past the spot where we had just been standing and I carefully extracted one that had become lodged in the end of my staff to examine it for any useful information.

"Don!" Raph suddenly requested causing me to look up; only to find that he was pulling another of the little barbs out of his shoulder and I immediately found myself at his side. "I don' feel so great." He added groggily and I quickly reached up to slap his face in an attempt to keep him awake.

"Raph?" I demanded insistently. "Stay with me!" But I was already too late; before I'd even finished my sentence my brother had collapsed against the wall and lost consciousness.

Looking over the top of the air conditioner to check on our enemies; I carefully injected a little of the toxin from the dart onto my finger and licked it cautiously before spitting it out again when I realized that I didn't recognize the taste.

"Great!" I complained before checking Raph over carefully; ignoring the fact that the goon squad had descended from their high ground to stalk closer to us. Thankfully my brother's breathing was still normal and his heart rate was strong; which was a clear indication that the drug was only meant to knock him out; however that also meant that they were trying to _capture_ not kill us.

I really couldn't say which I would have preferred but the question that still remained was _why_?

Looking over the wall again I took notice of the fact that the group of black-suited-unusuals were now only a few feet from our hiding spot and realized that I would have to put some distance between us.

"I really wish you'd start _listening_ to me more." I commented toward my brother as I pocketed the darts for further research and moved to pull the larger turtle over my shell in a fireman's carry.

Searching the area I quickly located another short building on the left and decided it was my best option given the circumstances. So adjusting Raph's weight one last time I carefully pulled a shuriken from my belt; took aim and let it fly past the mob to imbed itself in a pipe I had spotted earlier.

The resulting release of pressurized steam had the men firing their weapons at the movement before turning back when they realized it was a decoy. Thankfully it had still bought me enough time to run to the edge of the building and jump off before they started firing again.

Unfortunately the jump was accompanied by quite a _drop_ but we were built to take this kind of punishment; so as soon as I hit the ground I was off and running again, though I didn't fail to notice my pursuers _organized_ behavior and realized immediately that we were dealing with the _same_ people from the submarine.

Of course it was only then that I came to the horrible realization that their programming may demand that they _jump_ _off_ the roof after me, which would probably result in their _deaths._

However I couldn't wait around to find out as I was forced to continue running and dodging in an attempt to avoid the darts flying past my ears as the men continued to shoot their weapons.

When I was finally out of range I turned back to see what they had planned and found me suspicions to be confirmed as they all started jumping off the hospital to chase after me.

I really didn't want to _watch_ ; as most of them would probably crumble under the fall, but the doctor in me almost had to know for sure. If they died on impact there would be nothing I could do; but if they lived maybe I could help.

Of course then something rather unexpected happened.

Instead of breaking under the pressure they all landed _harmlessly_ on the smaller building and started booking it after me in an uninterrupted run, as if they were just out for a stroll in the park.

Thankfully I hadn't stopped moving; so I was still out of range, but that didn't help me make any more sense of this strange phenomenon; as from what I could tell through the suits their bodies were not designed to take that kind of fall.

But as fate would have it my brain chose that moment to register the fact that the suits in question were _glowing_ slightly; like the whole group had just been pulled straight out of a _Tron_ _movie_.

I was more than positive that such technology didn't exist yet; but I'd been wrong before – _once_.

It was possible that my brothers and I had gone and made ourselves some new enemies; but it was far more likely that our opponent was actually _Shredder_ , as he was the only one that we could account for having the kind of power and leverage needed to design that kind of tech.

But that didn't make any sense either, there was no way Shredder could have found us, the tracking chips were long gone and there was no other way for him to know we were alive. I had checked – _meticulously_.

Unfortunately my time to think over this new development was quickly running out; not to mention I was running short on _land_ as well. There were only a few buildings left before I reached the sea port and I knew that if I was forced to adjust my trajectory in either direction I would lose ground on my opponents faster than I could make it up.

Jumping into the water was a possibility as my brothers and I naturally held our breath even when unconscious; so I wouldn't have to worry about Raph, but even that didn't sit well; as something told me that it wouldn't work.

My opponents had compensated for their shortcomings once already and if that armor of theirs could augment their abilities to the point of jumping off a building without fear of harm; than what was to say they wouldn't compensate for the water too.

Even if the ocean was my home turf I would still be at a disadvantage against a dozen technology-based beings with poison barbs that could render me unconscious with one hit.

I had to find another way and I had to find it fast.

It was at this moment that an idea struck as my line of sight zeroed in on a particular area of the docks and I knew immediately that it might be my only chance. Of course I'd have to alter my course to get to it which meant I needed to buy some time, so studying the docks; I looked for anything that might aid me in my plan.

I may not be able to _loose_ my pursuers but I could still _confuse_ them long enough to get to my destination.

Peeking over Raph's shell I gauged the Black-Suit's position as a little too close for comfort but it would have to do. So putting on a sudden burst of speed I jumped off the last building and made a beeline for the water and just as I had expected the distinctive hum of mechanical tech greeted me from behind as the men activated something in expectation of a swim.

However just before I reached the water's edge I randomly veered off course to head left; temporarily hiding myself from view behind some crates in the process. The distinctive sound of suits counteracting again as the robo-cop impersonators jumped to take the higher ground made me smile as I stopped in my tracks.

Predictably compensated for my brother's weight and using my free hand to right myself again I quickly sprinted in the opposite direction leaving my opponents to stumble over themselves briefly as they attempted to follow.

Thankfully it seemed I had bought a little time, not much, but hopefully enough to get into position as I started veering through the small passages turning randomly at every corner, almost _intentionally_ trying to get myself lost.

Thankfully for me the men were still on top of the crates which allowed me to hear their every step as they sounded through the metal roofs like rain on tin. It certainly made it a lot easier to gauge their positions but I still needed to put my plan into motion.

I realized they were getting closer when several darts suddenly rained from above to embed themselves in a crate directly in front of me and I quickly ducked behind a wall of oranges that were ready for transport before they could take better aim.

Deciding to take a short breather; I studied the shadows flitting about through the area trying to figure out where my enemies were when I heard Raph groan lightly and silently hoped that meant he was waking up.

However before I could check to make sure; another shadow caught my attention and I promptly bolted just before the person standing above me starting shooting again.

"Come on; come on. Where are you?" I complained in a whisper; looking around every corner in the hopes of spotting my objective.

However a dock of this size was more like a _maze_ than a shipping yard; there were dead-ends everywhere and even though I had gotten a look at the area from the rooftops it was very little help now that I was on the ground. Not to mention with the black-suited morons still right on my tail taking just one wrong turn could end my escapade before it had even began.

But thankfully just after I'd managed to avoid another round of darts by roiling into an ally I finally managed to spot the warehouse I wanted though a small opening between two crates.

Unfortunately I now had another problem when the sound of a few arrows bouncing off my brother's shell alerted me to the fact that the Black-Suit's aim was improving, which meant their tech was starting to compensate for my skill and predicate where I would dodge.

This was getting worse by the second. I could really use a _distraction_ right about now.

It seemed that the Gods had answered my prayers this time; when just such a thing sounded in the near distance in the form of a tiny explosion in the mists of a few crates. However I didn't know what it was or who was behind it but I didn't wait around to find out and promptly bolted for the little opening.

I had never been so thankful for our slimmer forms than at that moment; as I was _just_ able to push myself and my brother through the little path to the other side. If our shells had been any wider we wouldn't have fit and having to find another way around probably wouldn't have ended well for either of us.

Noticing that my pursuers were once again focused on me, I used it to my advantage and made sure that they could _see_ me veering toward my destination just before throwing a smoke pellet at the ground to obscure their vision.

I was thriving on the hope that it would take a second for them to switch to an alternate mode of sight and that their technology would have automatically _assumed_ I had gone the _opposite_ way once my diversion went up.

After all; that had been my technique throughout the whole chase so far, and thankfully; after I had thrown myself through the door of the warehouse and chanced a look back I found their shadows running off in the other direction. Unfortunately for them I knew better than anyone the best ways to trick _machines_.

But it wouldn't last forever, they would realize their mistake soon enough and return for another go. So I quickly got back to my feet and threw Raph's arm over my shoulder to drag him deeper into the building as I looked around for what I would need in the 'frozen storage compartment.'

Massive walls of ice made the place something of a funhouse as our reflections danced around in all directions. Stacks of frozen produce were everywhere and containers set up with snow-fine shavings sat waiting for their cargo.

All these things were going to help me in the long run but right now I needed one thing in particular and I couldn't help but smile when I finally found it.

I immediately pushed down on the handle of the metal door and threw my weight into it as it opened to reveal a little freezer and pulled Raph inside I quickly looked around for the next part of my plan and located it in the form of _dry-ice_.

My brother would probably murder me for it later but I still dumped his unconscious ass into the container before jumping in behind him.

It would probably hurt like a son-of-a-bitch later; but the burns would be minimal due to our thick skin and the nano-bots healing affects. What we needed now was the _cold_ ; everything else could be dealt with later.

I knew when our pursuers circled back around they would be packing _heat_ - _sensors_ , of course being cold-blooded already made us hard to spot on infrared but we still needed to lower our body temperature or they would be able to find us.

My reptilian blood shunned the ice and all its properties; promptly insisting that I find a warmer place, but I ignored it as I quietly buried myself deeper into the ice.

"Donnie?" Raph suddenly groaned and I quickly reached over to cover his mouth. "What the hell?" He mumbled around my hand.

* _Shush_!* I ordered causing the turtle in red to glare at me tiredly but did as he was told as I quickly put my attention back on the door; waiting for anything that might suggest my plan hadn't succeeded.

Thankfully the freezer worked in our favor a few ways; as it was also rather small and there was only one entrance; so if I _had_ to fight I could use the space to my advantage and keep an enemy at bay for quite a while.

However Raph was in no condition to fight and I didn't know how long I could keep up the pace _alone_ if the Black-Suits just kept coming like they did on the sub.

" _Damn_ _it_." I swore when a shadow appeared in the window a few minutes later and I quietly removed myself from the ice to ready my weapon once more. Raph tried to follow my example but he was still woozy and weak and promptly proclaimed that he would _eat_ whoever did this to him.

But I ignored him as I kept my full attention on the freezer's handle; which was slowly starting to move down like whoever was on the other side thought they could surprise me; but they had another thing coming. Even if it was to the _death_ , I would _fight_ for my freedom.

I would _not_ go back in a cage.

* * *

 _Yuzuki ~ Japanese name meaning "gentle moon."_

 _Midori_ _~ Female name meaning "green, verdant."_

 _Mamoru_ _~ Male name meaning "protector."_

...

This part is starting to feel more like _two_ … o.^

Oh well

R&R


	7. Chapter 6

Don't Own

* * *

Chapter 6:

( _3_ _rd_ :)

Leo was in the middle of a meditation session with Splinter when he felt a little prick of phantom pain in his shoulder and looked down just as Donnie's panic started to invade his senses; (or at least as close to panic as Donnie ever got.)

"What is it Leonardo?" Splinter asked then and he looked up to find his father's eyes on him.

"Something's not right Sensei." He informed him seriously before getting to his feet just as Mikey appeared in the doorway; clearly sensing the trouble himself.

"Very well." My father proclaimed with a nod. "Be safe."

"We will." Leo told him with a little bow before the turtles quickly extracted themselves from the house to rush off in the direction of the hospital.

…

For some reason Leo couldn't tell what Raph's state of being was even though he could still sense his presence; which worried him. However he could tell that Donnie was running so there was a good chance that they were still okay.

At a full-on sprint it took them no less than 10 minutes to get to the college where Mikey immediately led the way to the roof. But unfortunately their brother's weren't there; however it didn't take long for Mikey to find a _dart_ sticking out of the ground, but unfortunately that didn't tell them which way their brother's had _gone_.

"Okay Mike." He stated as his little brother continued to look around for anything that might tell him where to go. He normally didn't have a problem using his tracking ability on the fly but for obvious reasons the situation had them both on edge and he was _feeding_ off that fear; which made it difficult to perform at the top of his game.

"Calm down and just let it flow." Leo instructed gently. "You can find them, I know you can." It had only been a few months since they'd put Donnie's _training_ _plan_ into action but already Leo was starting to understand the basics of Mikey's ability which gave him an idea of the things his brother needed to make it work.

As it turned out a little _confidence_ from the people around him worked better than anything.

It seemed this was exactly what he needed; for less than a minute later Mikey finally picked up on a trail and rushed to one side of the roof before jumping off where they both rolled into the landing and quickly headed toward the sea port in the distance.

It didn't take long for them to notice all the black suited people running around on one side of the docks and quickly started in their direction; making sure to stay out of sight so they didn't end up with the same problem their brother's apparently had.

Of course the turtles found out the hard way that they seemed to be packing some high powered heat sensors; when one of the goons managed to sneak up behind them.

"Hey!" Mikey proclaimed when Leo suddenly pushed him out-of-the-way and sent several little darts bouncing off his sword in all directions; causing his opponent to apparently get the picture that he wasn't going to make a dent in the turtle's defense and silently jumped down to attempt some hand-to-hand.

"Leo." Mikey started seriously as he peaked out from behind a crate where he had been shoved.

"I know." Leo whispered back; as it hadn't taken him but a second to realize that the man in front of him was acting awfully _familiar_ ; but if he was being _controlled_ than they didn't want to hurt him; however the guy obviously wasn't that interested in giving _them_ the same treatment.

It only took a matter of seconds for Leo to be consumed by the distinct feeling that the man's helmet was _analyzing_ him and compensating for his moves; which was so eerily similar to his own ability that he really had to wonder if they weren't the _same_.

He finally understood why the other kids had shunned him when he was little. It was part of the reason he had slowly drifted away from copying other people's abilities; as the person in question would usually become very _uncomfortable_ with him after words and now; after fighting this guy; he suddenly found that he didn't _blame_ them.

However Leo didn't get the chance to find out for sure if they were one in the same level; before his instincts suddenly told him to _move_ and he quickly jumped to land on top of the crate behind him just before the guys helmet erupted into a plum of smoke and he collapsed into a unconscious heap.

Looking up Leo found Mikey standing behind the man holding what could only be described as a Star-Trek: type-1 _Phaser_. Of course before he had a chance to ask him where he had found such a thing; a big grin materialized on his little brother's face and he started gushing over his new toy.

"Dude; that was so _cool_." He proclaimed with a squeal before looking over the object more closely. "I wonder if it has a _disintegrator_ mode." He added but before he could find an answer to that question Leo immediately jumped back down to snatch the thing from his hand.

"No!" The blue-banded turtle ordered sternly and the little guy proceeded to pout like a scolded puppy. "What is this thing?" He asked eyeing the gun skeptically causing Mikey to promptly plaster a sheepish little grin on his face.

"I – might a, sort a, maybe – _borrowed_ – Donnie'slatestinvention." He admitted in a rush.

"You _didn't_." Leo begged turning to look at him in horror, which only caused the orange-clad ninja to rub his head sheepishly and Leo promptly face-palmed.

"Hey!" Mikey suddenly said distractedly and Leo turned to look at what he had spotted; which happened to be a whole _group_ of black suited men walking around the area obviously looking for something.

"Do you _feel_ that?" The oldest brother asked then and Mikey nodded as he too was exposed to a strange phantom _cold_ and they quickly found the reason when they noticed some of the men were crowding around a warehouse the dock workers used to store _ice_.

"Donnie and Raph must be in there." Mikey suggested as they backed up a little in an attempt to stay away from the men zeroing in on their position and Leo nodded in agreement as he realized Donnie was using it to hide their position which appeared to be working – for _them_ anyway.

However the men were quickly becoming aware that there were two _other_ turtles in the area; though they probably thought they'd just found their original targets.

"Donnie's gonna _kill_ me." Leo muttered before pointing the Phaser-thing at the group and opened fired.

They were accosted by roughly the same annoying noise that Donnie had used to fry the submarine a few months back and the men dropped like flies as the mechanics in their helmets exploded; thus knocking them out cold in the process, or at least that's what Leo _hoped_ it was doing.

"Me next, me next." Mikey chanted as he tried to reach for the gun again; but Leo immediately held it out of his reach. "Come on, Leo. It's my turn." He wined dramatically as his brother put a hand on his face to push him away.

"Not a chance." He told him sternly. "Donnie's already gonna skin us _both_."

"Aw!" The smaller turtle complained and proceeded to pout again as they made their way to ground level; where they started to check on the men they had just incapacitated and thankfully discovered that they were okay; just their _tech_ had suffered the consequences.

"Come on." Leo promptly ordered and rushed into the ice house where he made sure to keep an eye out for anymore of the goons; as they looked around for their missing siblings.

"I don't know about you Leo." Mikey started a minute later as he pointed toward something. "But if I was Donnie; I'd hide in _there_." He finished; causing Leo to look around to find a small freezer in the corner and nodded in agreement before quietly making his way over to check the door.

"Whoa!" He proclaimed as it opened and he was met with the swinging form of a _staff_ headed straight for his face. In less time than it would have taken someone to blink he had his sword out and up in defense (despite the fact that he knew he wouldn't need it) as the attack stopped just _inches_ from connecting.

" _Leo_?" Donnie's voice asked from the darkness and said turtle immediately took a step forward so his brother could see him.

"Gees Donnie, is this how we say _hello_ now?" Mikey countered as he came up behind his leader and Leo clearly saw the relief written all over Donatello's face as he stood down.

"Are you okay?" He asked quickly sheathing his sword again and reached out to touch him so he'd know it wasn't a dream.

It'd been a long time since he'd seen Donnie so shaken; he must have been wound up pretty tight for the last hour.

"Are ya _kiddin'_ me?" Raph suddenly complained and Leo turned to find him maneuvering himself away from some large metal container which was fogging with the effects of dry-ice, but if Leo didn't know any better he'd say his brother was _drunk_ ; as it was clearly taking a lot of effort on Raph's part to not fall on his face. "Does it _look_ like I'm okay?" He finished sourly.

Leo didn't dare answer that question but _Mikey_ apparently had a death wish.

"No man, you look terrible." He announced unhelpfully as Donnie moved to assist him.

Before Mikey could dig his own grave any further; Leo stubbornly repeated his earlier question. "Is everyone _okay_?"

"It looks like his nano-bots fought off the drug." Donnie explained absentmindedly as he checked his slightly older sibling over. "Other than being a little woozy, I think he'll be fine."

"Speak for yurself." Said turtle grumbled before glaring in Leo's direction. "Ya better have left some for _me_ , 'cause I owe 'em a beat-down."

"Even if he did you're _not_ fighting." Donnie informed him; earning a downright _threatening_ look as Raph turned his glare on him. But Donnie as usual didn't even so much as twitch. "Don't start with me." He threatened right back. "Everyone has their _quirks_ and _mine_ is to make sure you get home _alive_."

Raph was clearly livid by this point so Leo just carefully extracted himself and Mikey from the freezer before they became collateral damage; leaving the best person for the job to handle the caged beast that was Raphael.

"So what happened ta 'em?" Raph asked as he appeared in the doorway a minute later; clearly refusing any aid by this point as he looked around for the target he may or may not get the chance to murder.

"Oh _them._ " Mikey started before sneakily pulling the Phaser from Leo's belt to show their previously missing brothers. "We brought your new toy along." He told Donnie cheerfully but Leo didn't miss the slight change of color in his brother's face as he took in those words. "Worked _wonders_ , they dropped like a bad habit." Mikey finished even as Donnie continued to get paler.

"That wasn't – _ready_ – yet." He informed them slowly.

"Looked ready to me." Mikey declared; happily waving the thing around like a declaration of war and Donnie winced painfully when it promptly came apart in his hands. "Just ignore that." The orange-clad ninja added with a sheepish little grin as he hid it behind his back again.

"Please tell me _you_ were the one to _use_ it?" Donnie begged as he turned in Leo's direction and he nodded sympathetically. The poor guy already looked like he was going to pass out he didn't need to know the _details_.

…

"Mikey I swear, if ya don' stop _laughin;_ I'm gonna ship ya ta Timbuktu." Raph threatened a minute later as they meandered from the warehouse and he finally got his first glimpse of the goons that had received a face-full of Donnie's little power gun.

From what Donnie had told them; it was supposed to produce the same effect as the shockwave thing he had used on the submarine a few months ago. Except this time he was trying to shutdown _nano_ - _bots_ as well so they might be able to _free_ some of the people under their control.

Thankfully Donnie hadn't added that last part yet because from what they were seeing it might have just _killed_ everyone in the area, including _them_.

"Mikey." Donnie said slowly as he turned to hold out his hand for said device, causing the little twit to hand it over without a fuss. "Thank you." The purple-banded turtle added calmly before taking another step toward him threateningly. "DON'T TOUCH IT AGAIN!"

"Sorry, sorry." Mikey whined in a small voice as he materialized behind Leo in an attempt to escape his brother's wrath.

"I tired to warn you." Leo bragged simply; turning slightly to give him look as Donnie moved off to check on the goons.

It didn't look like any of them had been seriously injured but their tech was virtually fried; which was also pretty bad for the turtles as that could have provided some priceless information about what they were up against; not to mention Donnie might have been able to _reuse_ it and make a _weapon_ or something to combat their technology in the future.

"Hey Don." Raph called a couple minutes later when he noticed one of the goons passed out between two crates. Raphael wasn't as good as Donnie when it came to electronics but he still had an eye for the good stuff, mostly because he had such an interest in cars and motorcycles and Donnie might just _build_ him one for this as the purple-clad turtle smiled upon noticing that most of the guy's suit was still intact; including a _watch_ that was clearly some kind of computer.

"Nice." Don stated with a smile as he carefully examined the thing for anything he could use. "He must have been shielded by the metal walls." He explained absentmindedly pointing at the crates around the guy before muttering something about taking that into account when he rebuilt his phaser whatch-a-ma-call-it.

But until then it looked like he had some enemy information to sort though.

…

"Raphael!" A voice proclaimed demandingly when they arrived back at the castle and said turtle looked up to find Mona Lisa glaring at him disapprovingly as her tail thumped the ground in anger.

"What?" He asked sourly but she didn't seem to be in the mood for his – _mood_.

"What happened?" She demanded loudly; causing his brothers to shrink away in fear before abandoning him to his fate.

"Traders!" He muttered in their direction before she was suddenly in his face again.

"I thought I told you to be more _careful_." She ordered sternly.

"I never said –" He started to complained but didn't get the chance to add anything else before she was yelling at him again.

"I shouldn't _have_ to tell." She screeched. "I gave you the _look_." She added as if that should make everything sensible again.

"The what –" He tired; causing her to glare at him.

"After all this time you're telling me you still don't recognize the _look_?"

"I –"

"This is the second time in half a year you've nearly _died_." She refuted as if the subject had never swayed.

"But –"

"Are you _trying_ to give me a heart attack?"

"No –"

"– 'Cause you achieved it." She continued but he didn't attempt to argue this time as she went on and on _and on_ about how he was a hot-headed jerk with nothing but rocks for a brain and something about chaining him to a wall should he ever do it again.

"Women," He complained to himself sourly when she finally stormed off in a huff and he quietly went to relocate his siblings.

…

"How are you my son?" Splinter asked as Raph walked through the door of Donatello's lab.

"Annoyed." He admitted earning a knowing nod from his father. "What?"

"I do believe you are ready to learn a very powerful technique needed to quarrel with the fairer sex." The old rat proclaimed as if speaking of the weather; causing the other three turtles to watch the exchange out of the corner of their eyes as their red-clad brother attempted to merge into the floor out of embarrassment.

"Now, repeat after me." Splinter continued as he held up a finger to insure he had Raph's attention. "A lady is _always_ right."

"What – that –" Raph tried to complain but Splinter continued as if he hadn't spoken.

"Even if she is _wrong_ ; she is _right_." He added sternly before patting his confused son's shoulder and made to leave the building as Leo, Donnie and Mikey struggled to hold in their hysterics.

"Do not _laugh_ my sons." Their father added as he reached the door and looked back causing the four to give him their attention again. "For you three may soon discover the weight of those words as well." He proclaimed threateningly causing them all to shut up as the ninja master nodded one last time before finally leaving them all to look at each other with a mixture of confusion and horror.

But thankfully they were saved from more awkward silence when Donnie's computer beeped and said turtle quickly rolled his chair back over to see what it was.

"Oh shit!" He swore quietly; which brought his brother's over to see for themselves what was transpiring and Donnie swiftly continued with his discovery without any need for encouragement. "That dart Raph was shot with – _wasn't_ filled with toxins."

"That's good." Leo piped in but they all became nervous again when their smarter sibling took a deep breath which was a sure sign that he was about to say something he didn't want to.

"It was actually filled with _nano-bots_." He finally explained and they all hissed. "They were trying to _control_ him."

"But he's gonna be okay – right?" Mikey asked before Raph could even open his mouth to respond.

"Yes." Donnie stated sternly and they all sighed. "Turns out his own bots _fought off_ the invaders which would explain why he passed out. The temporary hibernation state allowed them to use _all_ of their resources."

"That's good ta know." Raph muttered as he folded his arms in thought.

"Yes it is." Donnie agreed. "However it appears that our enemies have a very fast and effective way of infecting _anyone they_ _want_ with these things."

"Yeah." Leo stated apparently having come to that same conclusion. "Can you stop them?"

"I'm working on it, but there are no guaranties."

"Than what would you suggest?" Leo asked confidently.

"I don't normally say this." Donnie started with a smile as he realized that his older brother was getting the hang of having a second-in-command. "But I think we should meet them _head-on_." He finished before turning back to his computer and brought up the program that had been running in the background while he worked, which then showed him the information it had managed to sort from the little wrist computer he'd salvaged.

"Oh," He suddenly added in shock when it came up with a GPS location. "Well guys, we always said we wanted to _travel_." He added with a nervous little grin.

"Why, where are they?" Leo asked as the other three leaned in as an attempt to figure out what he was seeing that they weren't before Donnie quietly turned back around to give them a little smile and his answer.

" _London_."

* * *

Tell me how you think the third-person POV is going.

:)

R&R


	8. Chapter 7

Don't own, just borrowing.

* * *

Chapter 7:

" _Anag_!" A voice called loudly causing Donnie to turn just in time to get himself trapped in a headlock by the mountain of a man known simply as –

" _Kale_!" The turtle acknowledged simply. "Long time no see." He added in English as he wasn't sure if the man knew Japanese; however Kale didn't even seem to notice as he promptly stared at the mutant ecstatically.

"Long!" He suddenly bellowed causing the teen to wince at the loud noise. "Get over here! Ya gotta hear this!" He ordered toward his ship with a big grin. " _He_ _speaks_!"

"Damn right he does." Raph proclaimed smartly as the crew of the Peripeteia disembarked to see the brothers for the first time in almost 12 years.

"That's my little Armstrong." Kale declared reaching out to punch Raph in the shoulder. "I knew you could do it." He added as if Donnie had been a _project_ they'd just managed to complete.

"I'm _right_ _here_ you know?" He told them sourly but only received two identically stupid grins from the two idiots.

"Leonardo." Kale stated a minute later and reached out to shake the young leader's hand when he and Mikey walked up as well. "Good to see you kid." He added before folding his arms to regard the turtles with a suddenly serious expression. "Now what's so important that you need to get to London?"

"We'll tell you when we're out to sea." Leo informed him causing the man to slowly raise an eyebrow at him before nodding in understanding and looked up as their father arrived behind them.

"Splinter-san." Kale stated with a bow.

"It's good to see you again my friend." Said rat master stated with a smile and a little bow of his own.

"You've done well with these four." Kale proclaimed wrestling the purple-clad turtle into another headlock. "Is that a _gray_ _hair_ I see?" He added with a smirk.

"Probably." Raphael announced causing Splinter to snort in disapproval.

"May I trust you to see to their safety in my absence?" Splinter requested respectfully as Kale's first lieutenant; Long walked up as well causing both sailors to smile.

"Unless you think a little _hard_ _work_ will kill 'em, they're in good hands." Kale promised causing Mikey to groan loudly.

"I thank you." Splinter stated with another bow and they continued to talk for a few minutes until a sailor walked up to inform his captain that the ship was ready to disembark; which prompted Splinter to call the four brothers toward the end of the docks with intentions of speaking to them one last time.

"This is a journey you must take my sons." He started again quietly as they watched him with unflinching attention. "I believe that you will find your true selves and rise to meet the destiny you were born to complete." He added before seeming to _relax_ in such a way that the turtles had never seen as he spoke his final sentence. "There is nothing more I can teach you – you are ready."

His sons were shocked into silence as his words sank in; as they knew full well that they meant the ninja master no longer accepted them as just his students but as his _equals_.

"We'll return – _father_." Leo stated when he had finally found his voice again as he and his brother's bowed to their guardian one last time causing the older mutant to nod in agreement.

"Of that I have no doubt." He announced before they were promptly interrupted by the sound of the ship blowing its horn.

"Oh shut up!" Kale called from the deck causing it to immediately do so. "Can't you see they're having a moment?" He berated; shaking his fist at the bridge in fake anger and causing the turtles to laugh as Raphael put-to-words the amusement that was on all their minds.

"It's good ta see _he_ hasn' changed."

…

It was a sobering experience to watch their father disappear from view as the ship left port again but Splinter's sharp stance and steady gaze proved that he believed without question that his sons were ready for this and didn't need him anymore.

"I'm homesick already." Mikey sulked over the side of the ship and Donnie reached out to pat his back reassuringly, but regardless of who or what they were leaving behind they were determined to do this. They just had to keep reminding themselves that this wasn't goodbye; that they would see their father again.

" _You_!" Long's voice suddenly declared and they looked up to find the man waltzing up in a threatening manner as he zeroed in on Mikey to begin a lecture. " _Someone_ ; who shall remain nameless, made off with my last two oranges 12 years ago. You wouldn't happen to know who that was, would ya?"

"You remember that– I mean – _no_." Mikey proclaimed innocently not realizing that his pure-hearted little smiles only _proved_ that he was guilty.

"I sense a head-scrubbingin your future _kame_." The man announced quickly before capturing the orange-banded turtle under his arm and started dragging him back toward the inners of the ship.

"What's a head?" He called back in Donnie's direction causing his brother to smile.

"The _bathroom_ Mikey." He explained humorously.

"NO!" The youngest turtle bellowed in horror as he began struggling to get away from the lieutenant but failed miserably.

…

"That's an interesting turn of events." Kale responded as they all sat around his personal quarters once the ship was far enough out to sea that the brothers finally felt comfortable telling him about the recent attack from the Black Suits as well as their reasons for needing to go to London.

"Have you heard anything about a group like that?" Donnie inquired but the man just shock his head as he remained in thought.

"But submarines don't just _appear_ that close to land." He added after a minute.

"The EPF should have _known_ about it." Donnie agreed simply and Kale let out a sigh before going on.

"I know someone on the inside, I can contact him." He said these words with an obvious bit of annoyance causing Donnie and Leo to share a short look before asking.

"You say that like you don't trust him." Leo stated particularly.

"I had the displeasure of saving his life a while back; so he _owes_ me." Kale explained simply as he leaned forward over his legs in thought. "He has a lot of information that isn't known to the general public, he may already know more about these guys than we'll _ever_ find on our own."

"That being said," He added with a scowl toward the wall. "He is – _extremely_ unpleasant company." This statement spoke volumes for a guy like Kale who was probably the most _level-headed_ person they knew outside of the elders. For someone to get under his skin this bad the guy in question must be a real winner.

Leo considered his words for another moment before looking at Donnie again. "What do you think?" He could tell his brother wasn't too pleased with the situation either based purely upon the heavy _sigh_ he unleashed before answering the question.

"It took _a lot_ to even find their _location_ and everything else had already been erased." He admitted dryly. "Their technology is through the roof and I'm still just grasping the basics. I hate to say it – but we're going in _blind_ Leo."

None of them missed the stress in his voice as he spoke. It wasn't very often that something technological could get the better of Donnie and given that their current enemy was of the _technological_ - _type_ they couldn't afford to do this half-ass.

"If he can help I'd say it's worth a shot." The purple-clad turtle finally added and his leader nodded in agreement before turning back to Kale who nodded as well and quietly got to his feet to knock on the door that had remained closed during the meeting.

Almost immediately Long poked his head in to see what was up. "Adjust our course." Kale told him simply. "We need to make a pit-stop in Russia."

"Russia?" Donnie repeated as the first-lieutenant walked off to spread the word without even a single question asked. "Your route doesn't _go_ through Russia."

"Nope." Kale agreed as he folded his arms again and leaned against a wall. "It'll take us a bit off course but we'll still arrive in London about the same time."

"A _bit_?" Don argued again in disbelief. "You call going the _wrong way_ around Asia _a bit_ off course?"

"Calm down _Anag_." Kale ordered with a little smile. "We're not the only supply ship in the world. All we need to do is inform the fleet that we'll be taking another route and someone _else_ will do ours. We do it all the time."

"You're sure." Leo added standing up to be a part of the conversation as well. "The last thing we want is to deprive people of _food_."

"We agree on that Leo." Kale informed him seriously. "But I promise; there's nothing to be concerned about."

…

Day 3: {The Bering Strait}

"Attention." The loud speaker suddenly proclaimed and the three turtles on deck looked up from their chore to listen to the announcement. "The following individuals have signed up for this afternoon's 9 mile physical fitness hike."

The brothers proceed to wait for another minute for the rest before slowly coming to the conclusion that there – _wasn't_ any more.

"Okay." Leo stated around a little laugh; as he realized it was just a _joke_. He had to admit that the sailors certainly knew how to keep themselves entertained. "Hey, that reminds me." He added as he turned to look at his slightly younger brother. "Did you say goodbye to Lisa?"

"Yeah." Raph answered as he leaned against his mop to raise an eye-ridge at the question. "She's lookin' after Spike for me. Why?" He added causing Leo and Mikey to give him a knowing little smile. "Don't look at me in that tone a voice! It's not _like_ that, she's just a _friend_."

"Riiiiiight!" Mikey proclaimed dragging the vowel out into a ridiculously long tone.

"Mikey I swear." The red-clad turtle warned waving the end of his mop threateningly and causing the little pest to quickly dash behind his oldest brother for protection.

"Don't blame him because _you_ can't acknowledge your feelings." Leo informed him sternly and promptly received a glare of his own for the good deed.

"What da ya know about _feelings_? And _it's_ _not_ _like_ _that_." Raphael added in a bellow of a voice that was promptly ignored as Leo absentmindedly returned to his work.

"Just keep telling yourself that Raph."

"Yeah, 'cause you know what they say." Mikey added clearly asking for a beat-down. "Distance only makes love _stronger_." He proclaimed accompanying the words with a motion of kissing his mop lovingly which turned out to be the straw that broke the angry-turtle's back.

"That's it." Raph announced throwing down his mop and rushed after him. "Come 'ere you." He called as Mikey ran about screaming like a little girl; all the while calling for his other brother's help so he could live to annoy someone another day; but Leo just ignored them both.

"I don't get _paid_ enough for this." He muttered sourly to himself as he put all his focus into removing a stubborn spot of black something stuck to the deck.

"Hey guys." Donnie's voice stated as if in response causing Raph and Mikey to stop in classic 'roadrunner and coyote mid-run fashion' to look in his direction. However they were all quickly forced to examine the rest of the deck when their missing sibling _remained_ missing.

"Donnie?" Leo asked looking around skeptically in an attempt to locate him.

"Where are ya?" Raph asked in annoyance which was when Mikey happened to look _up_ and his jaw promptly hit the floor.

"Dude, that's so _cool_." He proclaimed and the other two quickly followed his gaze to locate Donnie standing – _upside-down_ under the over hanging section that was the bridge of the ship.

"Whoa!" Raph stated with a little laugh.

"Don – how?" Leo added quickly; moving over to stand under him and looked up in an attempt to figure out what the heck was going on.

"Gravity converters." He explained and took a few steps to the left so he could stand on the wall instead causing his brothers to immediately move to catch him should he fall. "Don't worry; it's stable."

"Yeah –" Leo agreed unagreeably. "Now come down." He added with an air of order but the purple-clad turtle just huffed and couched in his spot as he continued to explain.

"I was curious about how those guys were able to jump off a building without hurting themselves and found out it was actually the _material_ of their suits." He went on as he placed his hand near the wall which they noticed now featured a black fingerless glove.

"The hands and feet have gravity converters; there wasn't much left of the original but I was still able to _repurpose_ them." He continued as they watched a field of purple energy form under his palm as his hand got closer and closer to the wall. "The energy field acts as a kind of multipurpose-surface which _adheres_ to any angle allowing the user to walk or climb on – well – just about anything they can think of."

"Ya gotta admit that's cool." Raph proclaimed elbowing his older brother demandingly; but Leo wasn't ready to give-him-props until he returned to the ground and walked like a normal person again.

"Donnie!" He stated sternly causing his brother to look at him as he folded his arms demandingly. "Get down!" Leo ordered again showing that he wasn't going to be ignored this time and Donnie promptly sighed before finally walking down the wall of the ship to land lightly on the deck.

"I want one!" Mikey announced childishly causing Leo to _hope_ that Donnie only thought to make _three_.

"I thought you might." Donatello proclaimed before reaching into his belt to produce another set of his fancy new gear.

"Sweet!" Mikey announced immediately snatching a pair and quickly slipped on the gloves so he could test it out for himself.

"They'll keep us warmer." Donnie offered as a gesture of peace and Leo gave him a look as he finally took the last set after Raph had collected his as well.

"And you're sure they're safe?" He asked eyeing the glowing dot on his palm critically.

"Definitely." Don stated simply but explained further for the sake of his brother's sanity. "I didn't use _anything_ from the original suit; just the design. I promise Leo, they _can't_ be _tracked_." He added seriously and his sibling finally sighed in relief.

"Okay." He agreed solemnly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's good." Donnie interrupted. "I'm actually _glad_ you'd question them, 'cause to be honest I was kind of worried myself." Leo smiled as his brother admitted that little bit of info and realized that his fear had really been unfounded.

Even though Don had been dying to test the suit when they found it; he had still flat-out _refused_ to bring it anywhere near their home or Kale's ship. Even after he had thoroughly checked it over and removed anything that could even be remotely considered a tracking device.

"Also." Donnie added and Leo looked at him again. "I think you might like this." He finished before pushing one of three little buttons on the wrist band that dubbed as the remote control and his brother's watched as a little wheel of energy formed in his palm and quickly converted to a very _familiar_ shape.

"Okay, that is cool." Leo admitted as Donnie held the little energy-based _shuriken_ between two fingers to show him.

"Once thrown; they'll remain solid for one minute before disappearing." He continued to explain as he turned to chuck the thing at the wall of a shipping container and Leo watched as it embedded itself a good inch or two deeper than a normal throwing star.

"Nice." He congratulated with a little smile when the thing promptly evaporated a minute later. Now that would be useful in a fight as not only could they hold an unlimited source of ammunition but they wouldn't have to hunt them down afterwards either.

Not that the things were really that hard to make; but the problem with using shuriken in the field was that they always had to _find_ them before the little weapons were discovered by an enemy or civilian.

Leo looked around when another star suddenly sank into the crate a foot or two to his left and discovered with a raise of an eye-ridge that this one was _orange._

"Color-coded for your convenience." Mikey proclaimed with a smirk.

"Why not?" Donnie added absentmindedly as he formed another in his hand but instead of throwing it he just grasped a tip with both hands. "The energy can also be _manipulated_." He went on before slowly pulling the see-through weapon in opposite directions to form a larger image before squishing it back down again into a smaller-than-will-ever-be-necessary size. "I'll riddle out how to make different _types_ later; but for now all we should need is the shuri–"

" _E-stars_!" Mikey perked up suddenly with a smile and they all blinked at him. "Why you ask? Because they're _stars_ that are made of –"

"We get it." Raph interrupted dryly.

"One more thing." Donnie added with obvious hope of changing the subject and they looked back at him as he pressed the last of the three buttons on his wrist before taking a few steps back. "Okay, throw something at me."

Leo didn't think anything of that request; after all his brother could out-dodge even _Splinter_ in a fight; so he decided to give the new weapon a test run and created an e-star of his own.

He had to admit that watching the little blue shuriken form between his fingers was rather satisfying but not nearly as much as watching it stopped in mid air by the _shield_ Donnie formed in front of him.

"Sweet!" Mikey quailed instantly before forming his own weapon to throw as well.

"Mikey." Donnie argued patently. "That doesn't mean _everyone_ needs to test – Raph!"

"Sorry man, I couldn' resist." Raph offered with a sheepish little smile when Donnie was finally able to drop his shield thus forcing the stars of _three_ different colors to fall from the sky.

"Any questions?" He stated instructively a minute later.

"Oh, oh!" Mikey proclaimed as he raised his hand insistently causing the second-in-command to roil his eyes before motioning for him to speak his mind. "Can we walk on the _air_?"

Admittedly that would have been nice and apparently the youngest turtle wasn't the only one that thought so as both Raph and Leo turned to await the answer curiously.

"Actually – I'm still working on that." Donnie admitted causing Mikey to pout. "But!" He added before they could get too depressed. "I think you might like this." He stated as he moved over to the side of the ship and they followed; however none of them got there in time to stop him from jumping overboard.

"Donnie!" Leo complained sourly; not that he was concerned about his brother drowning or anything; but the ship was still _moving_ he could easily get left behind.

"Will you _relax_?" Said turtle called up and the other three quickly made to look over the railing only to find their brother _walking_ alongside the ship like he was Jesus or something.

"That's too cool." Raph stated with a laugh before jumping over as well.

"Guys!" Leo complained as Mikey leveled himself over the side so he could walk along the hull before jumping to land on the surface of the water. "Come on Leo, live a little." He called up over the sound of the waves.

"We're _not_ on vacation." Leo told them sternly more than a little annoyed now. "You act like we're on a Caribbean Cruise or something." He sighed again when they just gave him a look and he finally jumped down to land on the water next to them.

"Think of it as _training_." Donnie suggested. "They do take some getting use to so it'd be worth our while to practice a little before taking them into combat."

"I don't have any problem with _that_." The blue-banded ninja admitted as they all strode alongside the ship taking advantage of the overpowering noise to get their first real alone time in days.

"Yu're not still afraid a heights are ya?" Raph requested turning to walk backwards as a smack of jellyfish floated by underneath them.

"No." Leo insisted quickly (perhaps _too_ quickly) for they all raised an eye-ridge at him in question. "Maybe a little." He admitted before going on. "But that's not the point."

"Than what?" Donnie asked.

"I guess I'm – just starting to wish we _were_ up against Shredder." He finally stated. "That way we'd be a little more _prepared_ , instead we're walking into a situation we know nothing about and we have no idea who's at the head of it."

"This is what we've been training for Leo." Mikey proclaimed as he knelt to tickle one of the jellyfish; able to ignore their stinging tentacles from the simple fact that _as_ _turtles_ they were actually built to _eat_ them.

"He's right Leo, we're _ready_." Donnie backed up and his brother promptly deflated as he was outnumbered.

"I guess I just have a bad feeling." He told them simply.

"Well knock it off." Raph ordered reaching out to playfully punch his shoulder. "This is our first real mission; the last thing we need is ya _jinxin'_ it."

"Nice trick." A voice called at that moment and they all looked up to see Kale leaning casually over the railing to watch them with a smile. "Now let's see you _part_ the water."

"What does it take to impress this guy?" Donnie grumbled sourly before they walked up the side of the ship to stand on deck again.

…

Day 8: {Arctic Ice-fields above Russia}

"Ya gotta be kiddin' me." Raph proclaimed loudly as he and his brother's reached the front of the ship and looked out over the _frozen_ ocean before them.

"That's _a lot_ a ice." Mikey commented obviously.

"Yep!" Long agreed as he walked up as well. "And there aren't too many ships that take this route anymore so it's gonna be _thick_ too."

"Why do I get the feeling you're not just telling us this for common knowledge?" Leo asked skeptically causing the man to smile before pulling out what he had been hiding behind his back.

"Because is we get stuck that means we gotta go _down there_ and break up a path." He proclaimed with a mock grin as he handed out a handful of ice picks before walking off to continue his duties.

"Great." Raph complained sourly as he secured the pick in his belt and folded his arms in a huff.

"Oh come on Raph." Mikey proclaimed excitedly as he looked over the railing to watch the little sheets of ice breaking apart as the ship ran through them. "This could be _fun_."

…

"This is _not_ fun." Mikey announced sourly as they all stood on the ice with about a dozen other sailors chipping away at the snow and cold stuff to free the ship which had become trapped in the flow.

"For once I gotta agree with dip-shit." Raph added earning a glare from his baby brother and another from his oldest for the choice of language.

"Come on guys, arguing isn't going to make it go by _any_ faster." Donnie piped in as he took a second to rub his hands together for a little more warmth.

Thankfully the sun was out and Kale had provided them with some sweet coats that really kept their reptile blood content and happy; so there was really nothing they had to complain about, except the work and they had already agreed to do anything they could to pay for the _free_ trip.

"Stop complaining." Leo ordered as he continued to pick away at the ice. "It could be worse." And of course whenever someone says _that_ it'll somehow always become _worse_ and this was no exception.

The turtles promptly jumped and back-peddled immediately pulling out their weapons as something suddenly hit the ice – from _underneath_.

"What the hell was that?" Raph demanded but no one had a chance to answer before there was another loud thump; this one so powerful that the four ninja nearly hit the ground as it seemed to shake the whole ocean.

"You just _had_ to say something, didn't ya?" Mikey complained toward Leo who ignored him in favor of trying to find out what it was that was trying to break through the only thing keeping them from taking a dip in some really cold water.

"Donnie?" He asked quietly when said turtle crouched to lay his left hand against the ice thus allowing his gantlet to scan the area for the threat.

"Whatever it was its moving away." He finally answered a minute later and the tension immediately dissipated a bit. "But it was big, _real big_."

" _Fall_ _back_ _to_ _the_ _ship_." They all jumped about a foot when Kale's voice suddenly came from the radio Leo had strapped to his belt and they looked around as the sailors started moving to follow the order; quickly scrambling to get off the ice before whatever it was decided to come back.

"What was it Kale?" Leo requested over the radio as he looked down at the ice again.

" _It could be a mutant_." Came the reply. " _A lot of the really big ones live out here so they're not disturbed._ "

"Really – _big ones_?" Mikey repeated in a small voice.

" _They're mostly harmless_." Kale continued as if talking of the weather. " _It was probably getting ticked off with all our pounding._ "

"Mostly?" Mikey repeated again and Leo gave him a look before asking another question.

"So what; that was a – _warning_?"

" _Probably_."

"So what da we do now?" Raph demanded of the little radio.

" _We'll have to find a_ quieter _way to get through the ice._ " Kale responded.

"And how do ya suggest we do _that_?" The red-clad turtle proclaimed sourly before turning around when Donnie suddenly stopped and _hummed_ in that tone that suggested he had a plan.

"What's up Don?" Leo asked curiously trying to figure out what it was that suddenly had his attention so completely.

"I got an idea." He stated before turning to them with a big grin on his face. "A _crazy_ idea." He added causing Raph to smile.

"I _love_ it when ya say that."

…

"Yo Cap." Raph proclaimed as he climbed up the ladder to the bridge and stuck his head through the door to find Kale understandably giving most of his attention to the radar system.

"What?" He asked distractedly.

"Can we borrow an anchor?" The turtle requested causing the man to give him a strange look out of the corner of his eye.

"I don't even wanna know." He proclaimed and the teen smiled.

"Thanks." He called and promptly jumped back down to the deck.

"Don't scratch my ship!" He heard the captain order and the red-clad ninja quickly yelled back that they wouldn't as he ran off to locate his siblings again.

"We're good." He announced as he found that they had already brought the item in question onto the deck and where quickly preparing it for the plan.

"You sure you can handle it?" Leo asked as Raph moved to lift the anchor onto his back and turned to give his brother a look. "Sure you can lift it _now_ , but if it pulls you under the ice you'll be frozen before we can find you." Leo added truthfully but his worry was promptly waved away as the strong-arm turtle hauled the thing to the front of the ship like it was just an oversized paperweight.

"I changed my mind, I wanna know." Kale stated suddenly and they turned around to find him meandering up to them with a critical expression. "What in the seven seas are you four doing?"

"Just keep you eye on either Leo or Mikey and steer the ship in their direction." Donnie instructed giving a specific length of rope to each of the spoken turtles as they donned bright yellow jackets so they could be seen easier.

"That didn't answer my question." Kale proclaimed to no one in particular.

"No worries, we got this." Mikey announced with a grin as he and Leo jumped to perch on the guard rail and helped Raph lower the anchor over the side until it was sitting delicately on the ice in front of the ship.

"I got it." He announced with concentration when he was sure he could hold the chain without them and they nodded before jumping out onto the ice again.

They ended up sliding quite a ways in their inability to stop but eventually the lines connected to the anchor came up short and they were able to right themselves as Leo gave an experimental tug on the rope before giving his other brothers a thumbs-up.

"Okay Don." Raph stated and said sibling came to stand next to him.

"Whatever you're doing you've done before – _right_?" Kale asked skeptically clearly a little nervous about this plan.

"Actually – no." Donnie answered with a smile which Kale didn't return.

"I'm not gonna have to explain to Splinter why his sons are frozen turtle-sickles at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean am I?" The man asked dryly.

Donnie and Raph just looked at each other in thought before turning back to him with a grin. "Neh." They answered as one before jumping off the ship together.

When they hit the ice they started sliding as well but they were eventually able to stop and looked back with a sigh to discover that the anchor hadn't broken through with the loss of Raph's support.

Walking back up said turtle gently reposition the thing so the hook could dig into the ice the same way it would when digging into the seafloor, before he threw the chain over his shoulder and waited for Donnie to give the order to move.

"Okay." He finally called causing Leo and Mikey to quickly rush to their appointed positions on either side of the anchor so they could be seen from the bridge; thus helping Long gage where they were.

Donnie took point a few feet ahead of Raph with a rope connecting them so that he may be able to save him if the anchor broke through and started dragging his brother to the bottom of the ocean. Checking his gantlet one last time to make sure they were on ice and not _land_ that happened to look like it Donnie finally called out to his family that everything was good.

Raph then took a moment to quietly gather his strength before giving his brother's a thumbs-up, took hold of the chain over his shoulder and started pulling.

It really wasn't that much of a chore as he had carried things much heavy in the past and the anchor was far from the largest in the world, but in the end it wasn't the weight they really needed as much as the _sheering_ power the thing provided.

Like a group of horses pulling a plow all they were doing was laying the groundwork for a path and hopefully the _ship_ could do the rest.

"What has Splinter been _feeding_ these kids?" Long asked from the deck as he watched the four forge a path through the ice.

"I don't know, but I'm gonna find out." Kale stated with a smile before looking up to find nearly his entire crew transfixed by the sight. "What are you all waiting for?" He suddenly bellowed making them all jump. "We got a ship to run, get this tub _moving_." He ordered sternly and everyone quickly snapped out of their shock to run around like chickens with their heads cut off in an attempt to get the ship going again.

Eventually the boat started forward again and just like Donnie had planed was finally able to break through the blockage on its own as it followed in the turtle's wake.

…

Donnie had made it very clear that they were going to have to watch where they were going so they didn't run the ship aground which was exactly why Raph kept his eyes glued to his brother's back as he continued to haul the metric ton of iron across the ice-field.

At the center of the pack Don was officially their guide and without that little sonar map attached to his arm they were literarily running blind. So when the purple-clad turtle suddenly pulled up about an hour later and gave the signal to stop his brother's did so without question.

(Well maybe _one_ question.)

"What is it Don?" Leo demanded sternly making sure to signal the ship to stop; which it did just in time to avoid running them over.

" _It's_ _back_." He whispered in nervously and they all immediately became on edge as they turned to look at the ground even though they didn't stand a chance of seeing anything though the frost.

"That's it bro's, we're fish-food." Mikey proclaimed dramatically and they were about to tell him what they thought of that plan when the ground under their feet _jumped_ and the four franticly moved to adjust their stance before being thrown onto their backs.

Donnie quickly pressed his palm against the ice again and squinted at his screen in an attempt to see what it really was; however a minute later he seemed to have finally gotten his answer as his eyes widened in obvious distress.

"What Donnie, what is it?" Raph demanded quietly before another thump rocked the ice.

"I don't think you wanna know." He announced but quickly received a stern look for his trouble. "Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you." He added before turning his wrist to show them what he had found.

It was nothing but a bunch of lines forming a picture in the classic ' _fish-finder_ 'image but the big burry shape in the center didn't leave must to the imagination.

"A _shark_!" Mikey declared in a panic. "Dudes; I _saw_ this movie. It doesn't end well."

"Be quiet." Leo hissed at him and he promptly covered his mouth to avoid screaming anymore. "What are we looking at Donnie, Great White?"

"Oh no, this is _a lot_ bigger than a Great White." He announced in a very quiet voice clearly trying to keep the sound level down so they didn't alert the creature to their location.

"I thought the Great White _was_ the biggest?" Raph proclaimed causing his slightly younger brother to look at him.

"They _were_ – _before_ the mutagen spread." Donnie explained.

"Wonderful." Leo sighed clearly trying not to show how nervous he really was.

"If we're looking at a _mutant_ it could be as big if not _bigger_ than the _megalodon_." Donnie continued and his brother's promptly gave him a horrified look.

"A _what_?" Raph asked nervously though from the sound of it he really wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"Megalodon dude, the _biggest_ shark _ever_." Mikey explained causing them all to look at him. "The thing ate _whales_ for crying out loud."

'No, he _definitely_ didn't want to know.'

None of them were really all that surprised that Mikey knew this as he had always had a soft spot for dinosaurs; however being a dino-fanatic was a lot more endearing when they weren't about to be _eaten_ by one.

"Is the ship in danger?" Leo asked quickly.

"Sharks are actually very intelligent; its not gonna waste energy attacking something that it doesn't think will get it anything in return." Donnie explained simply before going on. "However – if it accidentally _hit_ the ship it could cause quite a bit of damage."

"Any idea what it wants?" Leo asked to which Mikey promptly put in his two cents.

"What do you think it wants? _US_!"

"I doubt it." Donnie answered as he went into his thinking mode. "Again, it wouldn't spend the energy it would take to break through the ice for a _snack_ that could easily get away." He seemed to think over his own words for another minute before coming up with a theory. "It obviously doesn't get a lot of activity out here; maybe it's just – _curious_."

"Personally I prefer it be curious _somewhere_ _else_." Raph commented before the thing thudded against the ground again only this time they heard the distinctive _scratch_ of something being dragged across the bottom of the ice.

The brothers watched as Donnie and Leo shared a look which ended when Don shrugged and Leo quickly picked up the radio on his belt.

"Kale." He asked the thing and they only had to wait a second for a response. "We're gonna keep going, tell everyone to stay _quiet_!

" _You going to tell me what it is or am I gonna have to guess_?" The man asked and they all winched. If they told him he would at least know what he was up against, but if they didn't; he could come to the conclusion all on his own that it wasn't as bad as it really was.

" _Nyes_." Leo finally answered after a minute obviously hesitant. "You just worry about your ship; _we'll_ take care of the mutant."

"We will?" Mikey responded earning a glare from his leader.

" _Alright_." Kale proclaimed obviously unconvinced but chose not to push it any farther. " _Just be careful_."

The brothers proceeded to bruise themselves as they cautiously got back into position while still well aware that the shark was right below them and started moving again only this time intentionally keeping the pace slow and quiet.

Unfortunately this forced the ship to stop periodically so it didn't hit them as they were now traveling well below its slowest speed, but either way they were still unable to make it out of the massive ice-field on the first day.

…

Day 9:

They slept rather uneasily that night but still got up bright and early the next morning to start again.

According to Donnie they still had a ways to go before reaching the _island_ that was supposed to be the destination so when the purple-clad turtle started looking around about noon as if trying to find something Raph couldn't help but slow down a little in his tugging.

"What is it?" He asked quietly when his brother rushed ahead several paces and knelt to lay his hand against the ice again.

"I can't find it." He answered distractedly a minute later.

They heard the ship stopping again so the other three decided to take a break and see what was bothering their sibling, however before they even got half way there a _massive_ thud shook the ice and they all went down.

"What the hell –" Raph started to swear but before he could finish a very unsettling _crack_ split the air.

"Damn it." Donnie proclaimed as he got back to his feet. "It's _diving_ , get back to the ship!"

They didn't need to be told twice.

Almost before the words had left his mouth the four were booking it back to home base. But turtle-luck was a fickle thing and they still had quite a ways to go which left plenty of opportunity for the beast to come back around for another go and it did so with a _vengeance_.

When the second strike hit the ice it crumbled under their feet and they were forced to quickly locate the closest iceberg and hold on for dear life. Unfortunately for Raph and Donnie they just happened to pick one that was in the path of another _monster_ sheet of iceheading straight for them.

Before they really had a chance to react the little island they were on was shattered and they were promptly deposited into the water; which for once in their lives was _not_ the place they wanted to be.

But they were still forced to dive down even deeper to avoid being crushed by the ice which was where Raph found himself looking around for his brother who was suddenly nowhere in sight. However in doing so he saw something that made him never want to eat fish again.

'Holly hell, that thing is _big_.' His thoughts proclaimed unhelpfully as he watched the large white shape swimming in the not-distant-enough-to-be-distance. They'd seen whales when they were younger and immediately thought the creatures were probably the biggest things they would ever see; but looking at the monster in front of him now Raph realized quickly that they had been _wrong_.

He didn't know what it said about his sanity but even watching the thing _turn_ _around_ didn't deter the red-clad turtle from trying to find his brother. However he was officially too panicked to try to _sense_ him so for all he knew Donnie was already on the surface or – something else.

The shark was heading in his direction now but somehow Raph's attention was still captured by something out of the corner of his eye and he quickly turned to find the shape of his brother swimming toward him; however he could tell from his skin color that it _wasn't_ Donnie.

Leo was a few feet away when Raph's awareness was drawn back to the shark only to find it zeroing in on them like some spawn of Satan.

' _Up!_ ' Leo ordered in their old language and they quickly started ascending; managing to breach the surface just before the shark reached them and quickly moved to claw their way onto some ice in an attempt to get out of the water.

…

A little ways away Mikey was in full on panic mode as he looked around for his brothers who were nowhere in sight.

"Mikey!" Kale suddenly called from the ship but the turtle ignored him as he continued to look around in an attempt to locate his family. "Get _over_ here!" The man ordered sternly.

"No." He called back distractedly still turning around wildly searching for any sign of his brother's. "Where _are_ they?"

"We'll find them, now get up here." Kale stated but still the teen refused to do as he was told. However before the man could try again to save the kid's life someone else surfaced a few feet away and Mikey quickly zeroed in on him.

"Donnie!" He called out and immediately started making his way across the broken field of ice to aid his brother.

"Where are Raph and Leo?" The purple-clad turtle asked around a fit of coughing as he attempted to pull himself out of the water but he was too cold and the ice was too slick.

"I don't kn–" Mikey started to answer as he attempted to help his brother out of the water before suddenly looking up and his eyes went wide as something caught his immediate attention and Donnie quickly turned to see what it was as well, which caused his heart to promptly stop.

Further away they could see their two older brothers struggling to get out of the water as well, but were so far unaware of the huge _fin_ skimming through the ice-flow toward them.

In less than a second the fin became a _back_ before finally a _head_ and Donnie realized quickly that it was _too_ _big_ , there was no way their brother's could get out-of-the-way in time.

"Don?" Mikey asked when his brother suddenly pulled away from him and dove back into the water where he had to force down his panic as he came face to face with the giant shark swimming toward him.

As fast as he could he activated the sonar weapon on his gantlet and turned the volume up as high as it would go before pointing the weapon toward the creature and braced himself for the impact that the high pitched wall of sound erupted toward the shark.

Unfortunately for Donnie he was ignoring a very important rule, 'for every action there is an equal and opposite _reaction_ ,' which meant that for every ounce of pressure that single noise threw toward the shark _he_ would receive the same in return.

It took less than a second for the weapon to completely knock him out but not before he got to watch the shark not only stop advancing but also retreat in the opposite direction.

Just before losing consciousness he spotted the forms of his brother's in the distance and knew they were okay; which was enough knowledge to allow himself to close his eyes and give in to the will of the water.

…

By some fluke from hell the shark suddenly veered off course like it had hit a wall just before reaching Leo and Raph. However the _wave_ it was moving with it wouldn't be deterred so easily and it quickly crashed into the little section of ice they were using as a life-raft, flipping it completely over and sending them right back into the water.

It was at this time that Raph realized just how close they had come to being eaten when he actually _felt_ the skin of the shark brush against his back. Of course that was when he also realized _why_ the thing had so suddenly decided they weren't worth the trouble as the second he had gone under the surface again his ears proceeded to become accosted by Donnie's sonic water-cannon.

The sound stopped barely a second later and as he turned to find said turtle floating several feet away he realized _why._

Something was clearly wrong as his brother had suddenly gone _limp_ in the water and was slowly starting to sink to the bottom. Raph was about to swim over when another form breached the water and he looked up to find it was Mikey diving down from the ice sheet above; wasting no time in securing Donnie before pointing toward the older turtle insistently.

At first Raph couldn't figure out what he was so panicked about until he realized that something was missing, or rather _someone_ and quickly turned around again to relocate Leo; only to find his brother floating in a cloud of dark water which he immediately recognized as _blood_.

* * *

Just my way of honoring Shark Week…lol

I hope everyone enjoyed because I had to do a bit of research on the shark and it's going to give me nightmares. )X


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

( _3_ _rd_ _:_ )

It took an uncomfortable amount of time for the two conscious turtles to get their brother's back to the ship but they were quickly aided by Kale and his crew and gently hauled onto the deck where Raph wasted no time in putting pressure on Leo's wound.

Now that Donatello was down Raph was officially the doctor, so when he ordered his little brother to collect Donnie's medical bag Mikey did so without question.

"I got it." He announced a full half a minute later as he arrived back on deck with the magical bag of goodies that somehow always had just what they needed. "Now what?" He added nervously.

It was seeing his baby brother so scared that brought the ill-tempered turtle back from the brink of a near panic attack and he quickly racked his brain for the things he would need.

Something told Mikey that his brother had been storing _simple_ _names_ for some of the medications they were using, as he was pretty sure no one would ever call a drug 'that one that looks like strawberry jam.'

But after attempting to read a name that featured roughly every letter in the English and Japanese alphabets and started with something that looked suspiciously like a Q, he found that he had no place to complain about his sibling's questionable grammar.

Several minutes later the orange-banded turtle was helping to wrap several layers of bandages around Leo's left shoulder when one of Kale's doctors called to them and they looked around to find that Donnie was starting to stir which had Mikey quickly moving to check on him which was when he noticed that his brother's _ears_ had been bleeding.

"You okay?" Mikey asked loudly partly because he was worried and partly because he wanted to know if the other turtle could _hear_ him.

"What?" Donnie responded and Mikey had to swallow down his panic for a minute as he repeated the question hoping that he was just too out of it to think straight. "Yeah." He finally answered and the youngest brother released a sigh of relief.

"What happened?" He added quickly making sure that Donnie wasn't looking at him so he knew for sure that his brother was actually _hearing_ him and not reading his lips.

"The sound wave." Donnie explained holding up his left arm to show him the gantlet. "I made a more powerful version for emergencies but it has a dire effect on the person who's _holding_ it."

"Meaning _you_?" Mikey stated simply and Donnie nodded once before stopping to hold his head like he was attempting to stop his brain from turning to mush.

"Basically." He muttered around a wince before adding. "Don't worry, it's _not_ coming back."

"What?" Mikey asked before putting the pieces together. "Oh, you mean the shark." He answered himself before asking another question in slight annoyance. "I thought you said it _wouldn't_ attack us?"

"It shouldn't have." Donnie answered quietly. "I don't know what happened."

"Dude you actually sound _concerned_ about the thing." Mikey accused him gently. "That kind a _worries_ me." He added causing his brother to look at him.

"Is everyone alright?" He asked off topic.

"Well it looks like Leo got hit by something – _sharp_." Mikey told him nervously trying not to raise his voice and agitate his sibling's headache. "Raph says he's gonna be okay though."

"Yeah." Raph suddenly agreed as he came over to kneel in front of them. "Now let's check _you_ out." He insisted before shakily reaching out to take Donnie head in his hands and turned him so he could see his ears.

"Looks like ya ruptured yur eardrums." He diagnosed before releasing him to run a hand down his face. "Ya should be fine in a couple days." He added causing Donnie to look at him again.

"This was your first time without me wasn't it?" Donnie asked with a little smile before adding. "You did good."

"Are ya kiddin' I can't stop _shakin'_."

"And yet you still did the job and did it well." Donnie proclaimed causing Raph to finally look at him. "I'm _proud_ of you Raph." He added and said turtle seemed to suddenly be unable to stop himself from smiling which had the younger one smiling as well.

Eventually Donnie got up to check on Leo himself but was pleased to announce that he wasn't needed and promptly ordered bed rest for all four of them while Kale and his crew started the ship going again as it seemed the shark attack had brought about at least _one_ good thing.

The ice-field was _clearly_ no longer an obstacle.

…

He didn't know how long they slept but when Mikey eventually woke up it was to a phantom pain surging through his back and shoulder which had him quickly turning around to check on Leo.

"Easy." Donnie told him seriously as he tried to get up.

"What happened, where's the –" Leo started to ask in a panic but Raph quickly interrupted him before he could completely freak out.

"It's gone; everyone' okay."

Leo let out a sigh of relief before reaching up to touch his shoulder with a hiss of pain. "What is – _that_?" He asked nervously as he moved to feel his back causing the three other turtles to share a look.

"Leo." Donnie started seriously making sure to get his full attention before going on. "I'm not sure what happened but a section of your _shell_ is – _gone_."

"Gone?" Leo repeated as Raph carefully started to remove the bandages around his shoulder before helping him stand up and walk over to the mirror by the sink where Leo slowly turned to look at his reflection and inhaled sharply.

They had to admit it didn't look that good to them either, as a rather large portion of the outer shell over their brother's left shoulder was just _missing_ ; exposing the inner softer layer below that cushioned his skin.

"The nano-bots should strengthen it again in a few weeks but I don't know if it'll _ever_ grow back." Donnie explained sadly as Leo gently touched the area again clearly receiving a very _strange_ feeling in return.

"But hey." Mikey added. "It makes you look _tough_." He offered with a little smile in his direction and Leo quietly turned to look at him for a second before giving his little brother a smile in return.

"You think?"

"Not many people can say they were attacked by a _megalodon_ and lived to tell the tale." The orange-banded ninja proclaimed truthfully causing the other turtle to laugh.

"True." Leo announced as he turned to look back at the mirror but only for a second this time before seemingly _accepting_ the change and stood at his full height as he became 'Leo' again. "What about the shark?"

"Don gave it a run for its money I _doubt_ it'll come back." Raph announced with a little grin in said turtle's direction.

"But why did it attack?" Leo continued turning to look in the same direction as well. "You said that –"

"I don't know." Donnie interrupted. "There was no reason for it to attack, yet it _did_. I don't understand it." He added with obvious concern as he folded his hands under his chin to stare at a wall in thought.

"What's ta understand?" Raph added. "It was probably hungry or somethin'."

"Would you climb Everest for a grape?" Donnie suddenly asked seriously causing his brother to start at the random change of topic.

"What?" Raph asked in confusion.

"It was a _hunter_ Raph, its survival depends on its ability to judge the _risk_ versus the _reward_. Even if it had caught us we wouldn't have _sustained_ it long enough to rationalize the risk of breaking through that much ice."

"Okay I get what you're saying now." Leo put in then as he leaned against a wall to think it over a little himself. "So then – _why_?"

"I haven't figured that out yet." Donnie attempted solemnly. "But what concerns me is that even though its attack _failed_ it still hit you hard enough to cause _damage_ to your shell."

"Yeah." Leo agreed seriously as he looked at the ground in remembrance. "I saw it reverse course but its _fin_ was still coming at me so I turned to absorb the impact. I knew it would hurt but I didn't think that –"

"Exactly." Donnie butt-in again. "The nano-bots in our shells have proven themselves strong enough to survive a _bomb_ , there's no way that that shark should have caused so much damage just by _bumping_ into you."

"So than – why did it?" Raph put it curiously which caused Donnie to look at him again as he opened his mouth to answer, however the words seemed to become lost in his throat as his eyes suddenly zeroed in on the sheet of armor they had personally designed for Raph to cover the gagged edge of his plastron where his own shell had been damaged during the explosion aboard the submarine last month.

"What?" Raph added in confusion as Donnie continued to stare at him as if seeing something for the first time.

"Could it really be that simple?" Don whispered to himself causing his brothers to all exchange a look.

"Fill us in Don." Leo ordered kindly and the purple-clad ninja quietly turned to look at him again.

"The nano-bots in our body have _yet_ to meet a force that they can't withstand – until _recently_." He explained but only earned a system of even more confused stares.

"Yeah?" They all agreed simply in an urging tone of voice that demanded he continue.

"What if the reason Raph's shell was pierced before was because that piece of metal was actually made of _nano -bots_ – organized in the same structural density as our own but moving at a faster velocity?"

"Yeah – you lost me bro?" Mikey recited with complete confusion at this point.

"I think I understand." Leo pointed out. "When two objects of the same mass and strength _collide_ with one another the one with the better angle or force behind it would _win_ , which would explain why Raph was hurt because the metal was _sharp_ and moving at a much faster speed.

"Exactly." Donnie proclaimed simply causing Mikey and Raph to look in Leo's direction with an expression of surprise that he actually _understood_ all of that.

"But that doesn't explain the shark." Raph pointed out after another second and Donnie quietly rubbed his chin in thought once again.

"No it doesn't." He admitted solemnly as he looked at the floor in determination.

"Oh forget it." Mikey quailed cheerfully as he threw an arm around his brother's shoulder. "It's nothing but smooth sailing from here and most importantly – no more _work_. We'll have plenty of time to figure it out."

Of course it was at this point that he promptly received a response in the form of the ship suddenly coming to a _stop_.

"Never mind." He added quickly. "I didn't mean that, I take it back." However before the gods of tormenting turtles could accept his apology there was a knock on the door and Raph quickly moved to open it and reveal Long standing in the hall.

"Hey look who's up." He announced with a smile as he saw them. "We need you on deck." He added promptly causing the youngest ninja to groan loudly but the man quickly corrected his words. "No worries, it's _not_ the ice."

"Sweet." Mikey stated with a grin as Raph and Donnie made to follow the guy. "I think we lost the anchor anyway." He whispered into Leo's ear before following them through the ship and out onto the main deck where they immediately took notice of an addition in the form of a _helicopter_ which was slowly stopping its blades from spinning as it landed.

"What's going on?" Leo asked as Kale walked up next to them.

"We're here." He proclaimed seriously as a long dark figure exited through the door of the aircraft, but for some unknown reason the four brothers immediately became nervous as the man approached.

"Hello boys." He declared with a serious, almost _slimy_ tone a voice as he adjusted his sunglasses. "A pleasure to finally meet you, my name is _Bishop_."

* * *

R&R


	10. Chapter 9

_**Guest**_ : Thank you for pointing that reword/reward thing out to me. Unfortunately I'm not an editor so I do tend to miss some of the smaller errors. Thank you again; I really appreciate your help.

 _ **Halu**_ : I'm glad I made you smile. I owed you one for making _me_ smile with all of your great comments. Thank you… ;)

* * *

Chapter 9:

( _Donnie's POV_ )

Day 10: {Kara Sea, unknown Russian Island}

" _Bishop_?" I repeated in disbelief. "As in _John_ Bishop?"

"In the flesh." The man responded with a smirk in my direction which had me immediately tensing up. I don't know what it was but it almost felt like I'd _met_ him before.

It gave me the creeps.

"Who's John Bishop?" Leo asked quietly and I scoffed before answering while never once taking my eyes off the guy.

"Only the _head_ of the Earth Protection Force."

"Yes; I've heard a lot about you too _Donatello_." The man added and it took everything I had not to take a step back; but of course Leo clearly had other plans as his sword was out and at the man's throat before anyone could so much as blink and Raph looked like he was prepared to feed his ass to the sharks right then and there.

"How do you know his name?" Leo demanded sternly even though he clearly wasn't getting the expected response for Bishop seemed to be completely oblivious to the fact that there was a blade ready to take off his head as he just adjusted his glasses calmly and spoke.

"I know much more than just his name _Leonardo_." Somehow my brother managed not to show how nervous he was becoming with the situation, though it clearly wasn't easy. "I've been watching you four for a while now." He announced which caused Raph to immediately round on Kale.

"What gives?" He demanded loudly but all the guy could do was stare at the man.

"You've been _following_ them?" Kale proceeded to proclaim in a quite, angry voice before moving into Bishop's space. "You told me you weren't that man anymore, that you were _better_ than that."

"I am." Bishop answered sternly as he used a finger to push Leo's blade aside which he allowed, for the moment. "But their origin makes them quite _dangerous_ , it was in my best interest to collect information and insure they didn't need to be – _quarantined_." He made sure to give Leo a stern look when speaking this last word.

"So far I've seen nothing that qualifies them as a threat to society." He continued before looking back at the half-mutant barring down on him threateningly. "In my line of work it is much better to be _safe_ than sorry Kale."

"Why are you here John?" Kale growled in response as he folded his arms. "I thought you'd send your _men_ to do this kind of work."

"As it happens we have a common enemy and I need to gather information on him as _quickly_ as I can." He stated calmly before looking around at the sailors out on deck. "Now do you have a place we can speak in _private_?"

"Anything you have to say you can say in front of my –" Kale started immediately only to be interrupted by his first lieutenant.

"No! It's okay Kale." Long insisted as everyone slowly started to file away; clearly getting the picture that it might be better to leave. "We'll be here if you need us." He added before joining the rest of the crew.

"Your men are either very smart or very loyal; I might have to _hire_ a few of them." Bishop proclaimed as if speaking of the weather before slowly walking toward the entrance of the ship obviously intending to find a private place all on his own.

"Kale?" Leo asked when the man leveled his head into his hand in obvious distress.

"I'm sorry, I knew he kept tabs on people but I didn't think he knew about –"

"It's okay." My brother interrupted him before he could become too distressed and quickly shared a look with me out of the corner of his eye and I nodded. "This might actually work in our _favor_."

…

We finally relocated Bishop a few minutes later making himself quite comfortable in Kale's office which clearly irritated its owner to no end.

"How exactly da two people like ya become _friends_ again?" Raph added as he turned to look at Kale who folded his arms in a huff and glared at the intruder to his space.

"I wouldn't call us _friends_." He admitted with a snarl.

"Well at least you're honest." Bishop announced as he folded his hands behind his back and watched something through the window. "I always did like that about you." He added before getting down to business. "Now; what information can you offer to make this trip worth my while?"

I heard Raph growl under his breath as the guy's smarmy words poked and prodded at his unstable core of anger and I quickly laid a hand on his shoulder to insure he didn't outright attack him.

Unfortunately there were some rules we had to follow in this situation as being in a foreign country meant that any threat of attack could cause an intercontinental war, and just from the way the man had fearlessly stood up to Leo's sword proved he had the power to make that happen, we had to be careful.

"If that's your reasoning –" I started calmly as I assessed the situation and took the path best suited for us. "Than what do _you_ have to offer that would make fighting our way through shark infested ice fields worth the while?" I countered which caused my brother's to smirk as they realized I was bringing my A-game to this contest of wits.

This finally made Bishop look over his shoulder in acknowledgement and smiled as well before turning all the way around to regard me in a competitive manner. "You certainly don't disappoint." He proclaimed quietly. "Clearly we have the a lot of the same interests; I'm sure we can _help_ each other."

"I have about as much _interest_ in helping you as a hissing cockroach has for the brain channel." I announced as calmly as if I were asking directions to a movie theater which caused the man to laugh under his breath before finally moving to sit at the table.

" _Black_ _Gators_." He stated after a minute as he steepled his hands in thought.

"What?" Leo asked taking a seat as well and Mikey, Kale and I slowly followed suit leaving Raph to stand at the ready incase he was needed for a frontal attack.

"The Black Gators." Bishop repeated. "That's what they call themselves." He finally explained. "I've been studying them for years, true their technology was impressive but they were never much of a threat – until _recently_ that is."

"What do they want?" Leo asked trying to sound reasonable in the hopes that it would keep the man talking.

"I don't know." He admitted. "All I know is everything went to hell when they got a _leader_."

"So what?" Mikey asked with a raised eye-ridge. " _We_ have a leader too."

"This is different." He responded with a shake of his head. "They were never an _organized_ group before and they stayed underground to avoid making contact with other gangs purely for that reason." He added seriously as he thought over something solemnly before continuing. "They call him _The_ _Barron_ ; after he came on the scene their technology sky-rocketed. Unfortunately that's all we know about him."

"That's not a lot." Leo admitted causing Bishop to give a little laugh in agreement.

"We've tried studying some of their tech but they have a safety protocol in place that renders it _useless_."

"Yeah I noticed." I stated simply before turning to look at Leo with an unspoken question and he nodded. "But I was able to salvage a _suit_." I added calmly causing Bishop to look at me which was the only sign that showed he was interested in my words. "We got lucky." I continued. "A lot of the information was deleted but some of the tech is still intact and I did manage to find a _location_."

"Where?" Bishop promptly demanded.

"We have reason to believe they may be _connected_ to us in a way." Leo explained instead of answering. "If we tell you where they are – will we still get the chance to _find_ _out_?"

"You mean the nano-bots." Bishop commented making all of us a little nervous but we didn't show it. "Like I said they've only recently become a problem and the nano-bots are a new thing." He continued with a sigh. "There's no telling how many people they're already controlling or how many more they capture everyday, but I've had a chance to study the bots myself and I can't say for sure that they have any connection to Shredder."

"That's what we want to find out." Leo stated seriously clearly trying not to panic as the man continued to prove that he knew far more about us than my brother would ever be comfortable with.

"And I can understand that." Bishop added as he turned to acknowledge my leader again. "But _you_ need to understand as well that I have a _job_ to do."

"I'll give you the suit." I suddenly offered which got the man's attention so quickly that he probably gave himself whiplash. "However it's still in Japan." I added with the smallest of cleaver little smiles. "You'll have to make quite a _detour_ to get it; which should give us plenty of time to get the information we need."

It didn't take long at all for Bishop to get the point behind that remark and smiled again. "Okay I admit it, you're good."

"Yes he is." Raph added under his breath as we waited for the man's response.

"But how do I know you're not bluffing?" He finally asked.

"You _don't_." I responded before carefully creating a little e-star between my fingers to show him which clearly perked the man's interest. "After all I only had enough time to riddle out the _basics_ ; there's no telling what _else_ could be in that thing."

The guy proceeded to think that over for another minute before finally speaking up again. "I'm sure we can come to some form of agreement." He finally offered with a little smirk.

"Let's get one thing straight _Bishop_." I spat out before calmly closing my hand around the shuriken causing it to vanish. "Any _agreement_ that helps both parties is worth a little risk, but if you double-cross us – I will _end_ you."

My brothers made sure to act as if this kind of behavior was _normal_ to better insure the threat and for the most part it _was_ , but that's not to say they weren't glad that I wasn't directing it at _them_.

"Clearly whoever wrote the quote 'beware the _quiet one!_ ' was talking about _you_." Bishop finally responded after a minute of thought. "I could _use_ a mind like that." He added seriously which nearly caused Raph to charge him out right but I _gracefully_ interrupted the near-confrontation.

"I'd rather remove my eyes with a spoon." I responded causing my brothers to burst into a barely contained round of laughter as the man's smile dropped like the stock market. Even Kale got in a much needed chuckle.

"Fine." Bishop accepted with a glower. "Any information I have on the Black Gators in exchange for the suit." He offered with thought. "Do we have a deal?"

"Not yet." I put in as I leaned over the table toward him. "You also have to destroy any information you have on _us_. I can't do anything about your _memories_ but I damn sure don't want any _physical_ information out there were our enemies can get a hold of it."

"I assure you our database is secure Donatello." He answered simply and I heard Raph promptly snarl at him from over my shoulder.

"Maybe." I agreed calmly. "But I don't like you."

"Fair enough." He admitted before losing the smile and continued with an air of seriousness. "But on _one_ condition." He added. "I will not replace one enemy for another, if you expect me to relinquish that kind of information than I need to know you're not _dangerous_."

I looked in Leo's direction as I came to understand what the man was saying and realized that; that wasn't _my_ call to make. "You want us to _work_ for you?" My brother asked in disbelief.

"In a way." Bishop admitted as he steepled his fingers again and regarded him with a stern expression. "I can see the appeal in having a team that's comfortable in the shadows; you'd only do the jobs you want and I'd even be willing to let you have _this_ job as well as any others that might involve your – _past_."

Leo continued to stare at him for another minute as if shocked that he would even _think_ we'd agree to such a thing before suddenly getting to his feet in one swift motion. "Give us a minute." He proclaimed simply and walked to the door without even waiting for a response causing Raph, Mikey and I to follow.

"What do you think?" He asked as soon as we were down the hall where we couldn't be overheard.

"He gives me the creeps." Mikey announced sourly and folded his arms across his chest protectively.

"Leo I've heard a this guy too, he's a _mutant hater_." Raph added sternly. "We can't trust him as far as we can _throw_ him."

"I agree." Leo stated with a nod. "But I can't help thinking it's worth the risk. He'd not only get us information on the Black Gators but also _Shredder_."

"The Earth Protection Force is responsible for safe trade routes, supplies, gang control." I explained simply. "True Bishop's techniques have been – _questionable_ in the past but he really does have the people's best interest at heart."

"I can't believe we're even _considerin'_ this." Raph growled throwing his hands in the air in anger. "He'll sell us out the first chance he – what are ya doin' Don?" He interrupted himself suddenly and I looked up from my action of reprogramming my gantlet.

"He's got to have contact with his database somehow." I explained as I continued multitasking. "If we can get him to _contact_ it I can set a spy bug, then I'll _know_ if he plans to double-cross us."

"No Donnie, I don't like that." Leo argued. "If Bishop finds out he can break into _your_ database, then he'll –"

"Find _nothing_." I finished with a smile before holding up my left arm in explanation. "I just _erased_ everything we don't want him to have."

"You _what_?" Raph demanded in shock.

"Relax, it's all _up_ _here_." I revealed as I tapped my head reassuringly and he promptly closed his mouth around the rest of his argument.

Leo seemed to consider that for a moment before finally speaking up again. "This could work." He announced as he looked around at us again this time receiving _no_ quarrel on the matter; not even from Raph. "It's a deal with the devil but at least it's a devil we _know_."

…

I was always so passive that sometimes my brother's forgot how down right _scary_ I could be; but I'm sure they wouldn't have a problem admitting that I was totally making their day.

When we had reentered the room and informed the nutcase that we were in on his plan; Bishop proceeded to pull out some kind of cell phone and started sending orders to his home base.

"Voice identification Agent Bishop." He announced into the device. "Log 493 Zeta, delete all files." The man finally stated with a little smirk before adding one last word to the order. " _Permanently_."

I didn't even have to utter a word before he promptly handed me the phone but I didn't take it, instead I just continued to study his facial expressions and body language to find that even though he was extremely good at hiding it, something was indeed _off_.

"You were _lying_." I informed him sternly and he quietly raised an eyebrow as if highly impressed. "I'm willing to bet that the computer on the other side of that phone could tell as well, which probably programmed it to _copy_ the file onto another system before deleting it."

"You _are_ good." He admitted with a smile before sending another order to his phone and quietly handed it back to me where I quietly used my gantlet to confirm that whatever was on the other side of that line was doing as it was told this time. "But can you really blame me for wanting to _test_ your abilities?" He added as my computer beeped to inform me that the information was indeed _gone_.

"Fool me once shame on you Bishop, I don't _do_ fool me _twice_." I answered simply causing his smile to falter ever so slightly as I handed back the phone. "Now delete it from your _seven_ other systems."

…

( _3_ _rd_ :)

The next several minutes found Donnie's brothers smiling like Cheshire cats as the man took back his phone with an unhappy grin and started making more calls.

This was better than day-time television.

"Happy?" Bishop asked in clear annoyance after he had apparently come to the realization that he would continue to get gut-checked for every squirm and loophole he tried to get past them.

" _Decidedly_ " Donnie announced with a smirk as his gantlet beeped again and he returned the phone one last time which promptly _exploded_ in the man's hand.

Raph and Mikey immediately burst into hysterics as they attempted to keep each other on their feet through their fit of laugher and Leo found himself smiling as well as Bishop discarded what was left of the device with a unamused scowl before standing up to hold out his hand in the young leader's direction.

The blue-clad ninja looked toward his brother's one last time and received three different nods of approval before he stood as well and reached out to cautiously shake the man's hand. "It'll certainly be – _interesting_ working with you all." Bishop admitted with a smile before turning back to Donnie.

"Now – the _suit_." He reminded and the turtle promptly handed him a little piece a paper which the man opened to read before nodding in satisfaction and safely stored it in an inside pocket of his long black jacket. "A pleasure doing business with you." He offered respectfully before finally moving to exit the room.

"Oh and Bishop." Donnie suddenly added causing him to turn around after opening the door. "I suggest you take some weed-be-gone." He commented causing everyone to look at him strangely.

"I'll remember that." The guy proclaimed with a raise of his eyebrow which was the only thing that suggested he was _surprised_ by that comment before he finally left the room and returned to his helicopter.

"What did ya mean by that?" Raph asked once the man was gone and Donnie promptly smiled evilly.

"You remember that snakeweed we fought a while back?" He asked simply.

"Vaguely!" The red-banded turtle responded sarcastically as he raised an eye-ridge in question.

"Well I figured 'what better place to store something that everyone and their brother would be _looking_ for'." Donnie finally explained and Mikey promptly hit the floor as his fit of laughter returned.

"You're wicked _Anag_." Kale stated with a smile as said turtle leaned back in his chair to look at him smugly. "I _like_ it."

…

That night: {Barents Sea}

"Hey check it out." Leo looked up from his project when Mikey suddenly demanded everyone's attention to be on something over the side of the ship. "The water's _glowing_." He finally added."

"No; it's not the water." Donnie explained as he walked over to see it as well. "They're bioluminescence dinoflagellates; the species contains scintillons, dinoflagellate luciferase and luciferin which make them produce light when agitated. They're usually only seen in warmer waters but they've been evolving and expanding since the mutagen outbreak."

Their leader couldn't help but laugh lightly under his breath when Mike and Raph blinked at him owlishly in response.

"I think we need to hide the dictionary again." Mikey suggested as the gears in his brain came to a screeching halt promptly demanding some tender, love and care not to mention about a gallon of WD40.

"Scintillons are individual cytoplasmic bodies that are distributed mainly in the cortical region and –" Donnie tired again only to be interrupted by Mikey covering his ears in horror.

"Somebody make him _stop_!" He begged dramatically causing the purple-clad turtle to glare at him.

"They're bioluminescent algae that _glow_ when disturbed." The intelligent brother finally explained before roiling his eyes as his siblings just ignored him in favor of jumping over the side of the ship to get a closer look at the glowing creatures. "Honestly." He announced sourly and walked over to sit next to Leo where he promptly folded his arms in a huff.

"I would think you'd know better than to expect them to understand that stuff." Leo stated quietly with a sympathetic smile.

"I don't do it on _purpose_." He complained solemnly. "It just sort of – happens."

"And despite that we _still_ love you." The older brother added as he calmly returned to his work where he could act like he didn't notice the disapproving look he received in response.

"What are you doing?" Donnie finally asked after another couple minutes of companionable silence.

"It's weird." Leo just admitted simply earning a quietly raised eye-ridge from his sibling that requested further explanation. "It's going to take some getting use to." He added pointing over his left shoulder at the missing piece of his shell and Donnie finally nodded in understanding.

"I might be able to make you something." He offered as he looked down at the thing in his brother's hands again but Leo just shook his head.

"It's okay I think I've figured it out." He stated as he secured the last bolt on his project before standing up to slip the sleeve over his left arm so the armor he had attached to it sat comfortably where it was supposed to. After which he wrapped the simple piece of cloth under his right arm and tied a little knot in the end to hold it in place.

"I saw something like it at home." Leo declared distractedly as he adjusted it a bit more before finally securing the little strap around his middle finger and moved around to make sure it didn't hinder his movement in any way. "Samurai used them during the Edo period; though they usually wore one on _both_ arms." He explained simply before returning his swords to his back and tested that he could still use them to the best of his ability.

"It suits you." Donnie finally responded after a minute causing his brother to turn around again only to find the other turtle smiling. "No offence Leo; but you've always been more of a _samurai_ than a ninja."

The blue-banded turtle laughed lightly at the non-offensive statement before speaking up again. "What about you?" He disputed off topic. "You finish that new staff of yours yet?"

His brother just shrugged dismissively in response which basically meant that he was in fact finished; except for anything else he might think to add in the future which could easily grow into a substantial list if he wasn't careful.

Leo just smirked at the show of secrecy before taking a fighter's stance. "Well come on then, let's see if you know how to _use_ it."

"I'll take that as a complement – I think." Donnie added with a little laugh before standing up to accept his challenge and quietly retrieved his own weapon.

He'd been working on the staff ever since losing his last one; fiddling with the idea of reducing its size for a more portable version and even strengthening it with a metal core. However knowing Donnie; Leo was willing to bet that he had added a few other little surprises he'd yet to tell them about and the older turtle wasn't willing to let him off the hook until he saw _all_ of them.

"Best out of three?" He asked as Donnie lengthened the staff and took a stance as well.

"You're on."

…

Day 14: {River Thames; London}

"That's interestin'." Raph announced as the ship finally came to a stop at a makeshift dock near London.

"It doesn't look anything like the brochure." Mikey joked and his brother gave him a look even though he couldn't rightly _argue_ with that logic. They'd heard that London was the city of fog but never thought it was the city of _water_.

The River Thames looked like it had flooded over quite a while ago thus destroying most if not all of the bridges in its path as well as officially splitting England in _two_ which deterred the trees that were usually so potent from growing; as for some reason mutagen-enhanced plants never set down roots in a city that had too much water.

Though this was obviously usefully for the trade routes; the turtles couldn't help but wonder how many _homes_ we were casually floating over.

"Okay, here's the deal." Kale pronounced as he strolled up to them with a purpose and they all turned around to regard him. "We've got a stop in Denmark and Norway; that's means you have _three days_ to do what you need to do here before we come back to pick you up. Can you handle that?"

"Yes." Leo answered immediately. "Thank you for everything Kale. It means a lot to us."

"Don't thank me just yet." He responded with a raise of his eyebrow. "I don't want it to come to this but if you're _not_ here when we get back we're gonna have to leave you _behind_."

"We understand." Leo stated seriously and the rest of his team promptly nodded in agreement causing the man to sigh loudly.

"Just be careful." He added before giving them a little smile and reached out to trap Mikey in a headlock. "I'm kinda starting to _like_ you four."

"What do you mean _starting_ _to_?" Donnie accused him with a grin and the man laughed before promptly kicking them off his ship.

"Just get out of here and start your mischief-making already." He ordered with fake seriousness as they started down the ramp. " _Three_ _days_!" He reminded them sternly once they had reached the dock and struggled slightly to find their land-legs again.

"We'll be here." Raph informed him loudly before turning to follow his brother's into the city of London.

…

"Alright." Donnie proclaimed as they finally came to a stop on some random building after nearly an hour of free-running across the rooftops of the mostly abandoned capital. "The signal originated from somewhere – around here." He stated slowly as he searched the area which was mostly run down buildings and abandoned streets.

Just like _everywhere_ _else_.

"So what're we lookin' for, a big blinking arrow that says 'bad guys here'?" Raph requested sarcastically but when he didn't receive an answer they realized that no one had really _thought_ that far ahead.

"Look for anything out of the ordinary." Leo commanded simply as he walked to the edge of the roof to have a look around.

"Leo we've never _been_ here, how da we _know_ what's _ordinary_?" Raph announced sourly causing his brother to turn around and give him a look. However before they could start their usual banter Mikey interrupted the confrontation.

"How about _that_?" He stated and they all turned to see what he was pointing at only to find that it was someone jumping across the rooftops across the street, and not only that but he was also sporting one of the same _black suits_ as the Gators that had attacked them back in Japan.

" _Finally_!" Raph quailed with a smirk as he cracked his knuckles in expectation of some long awaited payback. "Somethin' I can _hit_."

"Wait!" Leo ordered and quickly came up to put a hand on his shoulder. "That seems _too_ easy." The red-clad turtle could certainly see his _point_ but that didn't mean he had to _like_ it. "We're gonna _follow_ him first." Leo added causing the other turtle to let out a breath of annoyed air.

"Fine." Raph agreed reluctantly and made to follow his siblings as they moved to get out of sight and ghost the Gator as he continued his escapade across town.

…

It didn't take long for them to notice that there was something distinctively _liberated_ about this new Black-Suit; as he tended to act a lot more _in control_ than his buddies and even turned at various times to make sure he wasn't being followed.

Luckily Donnie was able to confuse the censers in his helmet so he never caught them but he did mention that something was _different_ about the suit as well, though he couldn't place exactly what.

It took about an hour but eventually the Gator stopped at a building and started snooping around which made the turtles wonder if he had any idea where he was even going. However it only took another minute for the guy to find what he was looking for, cut a hole in a window and dropped down inside the building which immediately had the brothers looking at each other questionably.

True the city wasn't a complete wreck yet but there was no way a window on the _roof_ would have survived this long without maintenance.

"My uncanny actuate search instincts are telling that we're in the right place." Mikey announced sagely and his brother's gave him a look before soundlessly making their way over to the hole where Donnie scanned the inside in case anyone was waiting for them.

"Alright time to put these things into practice." Leo proclaimed quietly as he activated the surface adapter things on his hands and carefully made his way through the hole to crawl along the ceiling with Raph, Mikey and Donnie following suite a second later.

Their eyes adjusted to the dark quickly and they were finally able to see just what kind of a place they were actually sneaking into; which turned out to be none other than a museum.

"Wonderful!" Mikey muttered sourly. "What is it with us and _museums_ ; don't we get enough culture in school?" He grumbled miserably. "Why can't we ever go to _comic_ - _con_?"

"Maybe 'cause comic-con shut down years ago." Raph suggested distractedly as he studied all the big white sheets protecting the works of art just to make sure something else or _someone_ else wasn't hiding underneath them.

"Not true dude; I heard they had one in California last year." The orange-clad ninja announced quickly and his brother gave him a look as his baby blue eyes twinkled with delight. "4 words dude; 'all joy is not lost'." He stated epicly.

"That's 5 words." Donnie pointed out as Raph roiled his eyes in annoyance.

"My point still stands." Mikey defended proudly after a slight pause.

* _Shush_!* Leo ordered before pointing toward the corner of the room and they all quietly rebounded to the ground and rounded the corner after the Black-Suit only to nearly run head long into a freaking _dinosaur_.

Raphael promptly covered Mikey's mouth before he could scream and they all took a minute to collect their breath as the T-Rex skeleton continued to pose for its nonexistent audience.

"What?" Mikey whispered as Raph let him go again when they were sure they were no longer in danger of being eaten. " _I'm_ the only _screamer_?" No one answered him as they carefully started making their way around the room filled to the breaking point with their long extinct ancestors.

"So what are we looking for anyway?" Mikey asked a few minutes later as they made their way through the third or fourth exhibit. "Power core, incense burner, intergalactic game-boy?" He suggested.

"There must be some kind of predomination apparatus for the Black Gator's accouterment." Donnie declared distractedly as he continued to monitor his gantlet for the location of such a thing. "But I doubt they'll have it in the institution itself so it must be on a subjacent precinct."

"Damn it Donnie; I'm gonna start _chargin'_ ya for every _big word_ ya add ta these conversations." Raph added in annoyance before the only turtle who had a chance of translating the geek-speak came to the rescue.

"We gotta go _down stairs_." Leo translated simply.

"Didn't I just say that?" Donnie asked clearly not understanding what he had done wrong.

"No!" Raph and Mikey informed him together and the other turtle sighed irritably before walking after Leo again as they continued their tour of the building.

Eventually they managed to locate a staircase that led to the sub - the subjac - the _basement_ and meandered down into the darkness. However before they reached the bottom they found that the over-flowed river had penetrated the area somehow and was slowly drowning the lower floors.

Thankfully it wasn't so bad that they couldn't still walk and made their way into the exhibit; trying to figure out what crazy things the museum had kept there in its day; which turned out to be a really big – _fish tank_.

"Okay so maybe museums aren't so bad." Mikey admitted as he dusted off and read a little display about some kind of crazy looking creature called a 'blobfish' that had actually been named 'the world's _ugliest_ animal' and for good reason. "This is actually kind of fun." He added as he continued to move around the room with a grin until he ultimately came upon the main attraction and nearly had a heart attack.

"If I _never_ see another dinosaur it'll be _too_ soon." Raph grumbled as his baby brother materialized behind him and they all struggled to collect ourselves as they nervously took in the display in the middle of the room that featured (of all things) the life-like model of a freaking _megalodon_.

The actual jaw bones in the corner and various pictures depicting its size compared to other creatures as well as one of it eating a blue whale was also _not_ amusing in the least.

"Suddenly comic-con doesn't sound that bad." Donnie stated nervously before they promptly left the display to its 'menacing' and continued to search the lower level. "We're looking for a control panel of some sort; or a _brain_." He started to explain until his gantlet began to freak out and led him straight up to one of the windows in the hallway that showed the inside of the tank.

"Is that it?" Mikey muttered as he plastered his face against the glass and spotted something in the middle of the reservoir.

"Probably." Donnie admitted distractedly as he studied the container. "That's strange, why would there still be _water_ in there?" He asked absentmindedly as he took in the rather _bare_ fish tank which didn't feature the usual scenery or land-space but was still filled to the brim with liquid.

"It _is_ a fish tank." Mikey proclaimed unhelpfully. "Now how do we get in there? I really don't want to be here any longer than we _have_ to." He added impatiently; nervously looking back in the direction of the giant shark.

"I can think a _one_ way." Raph suggested as he threw his first into his palm in confirmation; but Donnie promptly grabbed his hand to stop him.

"That's _not_ a good idea." He proclaimed quickly.

"What's the big deal, its just _water_?" Raph argued truthfully.

"I don't think so." Donnie stated as he released his brother and turned to look through the window again. "Can you – _sense_ it?" He added which caused his brothers to look curiously at the liquid as they tried to get a feel for the stuff.

But now that he mentioned it they _couldn't_ sense the water; not like they normally could anyway, which meant that it – _wasn't_ water.

"Okay." Mikey stated questionably. "If it's not water than what is it?" He asked as Donnie got up closer to the tank to study the stuff more closely and after a second carefully lifted his hand to tap the glass which caused the liquid-like substance to shun away from the sound like it was a _living organism_.

" _Ahh!_ " Mikey screamed quietly as they all backed up a step. "Okay that's creepy."

"They're _nano-bots_." Donnie stated with a mixture of fear and amazement.

"What are they doing _here_?" Leo asked curiously as he looked around at the exhibit nearby. "I would think they'd be in a lab or something."

"Not unless there's something here they _needed_." Donnie answered before suddenly seeming to come up with the answer and looked back toward the megalodon. "No way!" He stated quietly which quickly had his brother's demanding an explanation.

"The shark." He stated simply which only earned him a glare from three different corners of the room. "It was made of _nano-bots_."

"What?" Raph proclaimed in disbelief."

"That's why it _attacked_ ; it could _sense_ us." Donnie added turning back to the tank before looking down at the ground. "They must be creating them here so that when the water rises the nano-bots get swept out into the museum. Their probably programmed to take on the _first shape_ they see."

"So when they _see_ the megalodon exhibit –" Leo started in understanding before going silent as he looked around at all the _other_ rather unpleasant looking dinosaurs in the room. "That's not good."

"They're literally _raising_ an army of dinosaurs." Donnie somehow managed to say with a straight face. "If this continues they'll take over the oceans and if they do that they can take over the _world_."

"Then we need ta _stop_ them." Raph proclaimed demandingly before moving to break the glass again but was promptly stopped by his brother once more.

"Yes!" Donnie agreed. "But if we break the glass it'll probably set off an _alarm_." He added truthfully which earned him an annoyed look from his red-clad brother.

"Yu're really turnin' this into a _dull_ mission Don." He grumbled off topic.

"Oh I wouldn't say that." Leo stated suddenly and they all turned to find him looking through the window again intently. "In fact I think I just found something you _can_ hit."

That quickly got his team's attraction and they promptly moved to get a look at what their brother had found only to discover the Black Gator from the roof causally lowering himself down on a rope to hang over the fancy little piece of tech in the middle of the tank.

"What is he doing?" Donnie asked in a panic just before the guy plucked the nano-brain from its stand which caused the entire building to erupt with flashing red lights and alarms.

* * *

Bishop is by far one of my _favorite_ enemies ever, so I couldn't help but bring him into this somehow. Though I admit it surprised even me that he turned out as more of a _frienemy_. I noticed that nearly everyone commented that he was probably up to no good so I hope that he's interesting enough to get over that little stretch. X)

R&R


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

( _3_ _rd_ :)

"Ya gotta be kiddin' me." Raph complained after the hallway bleed red with lights flashing from every corner.

"He's getting away?" Mike announced and they all turned to watch the theft maneuver his way back out of the tank and disappear into the maintenance room above them.

"No he's _not_!" Leo proclaimed before leading the way back down the hall trying to follow the man, however before they could get back to the exit they found themselves blocked off by a small army of Black Gators marching down the stairs where they started opening fire on the turtles with some fancy laser guns.

They quickly fell into nooks of the walls and managed to avoid being shot however one of the glass windows didn't fair as well and shattered when a laser beam caught it just right and suddenly they had a wave of nano-bots to deal with as well.

"Up!" Leo ordered and they all jumped as the wave reached them and landed on the top with the aid of the surface adapters where they immediately felt the organism under their feet twist and turn like a giant worm before leveling out as the nano-bots continued their impersonation of water.

"It's okay." Donnie announced quickly. "I think they need the _brain_ , they shouldn't be able to hurt us." He added seriously before ducking back down as a stray laser hit the wall next to his head.

"That thing he took; that was the brain?" Leo asked from the other side of the hall as he and Mikey tried to take cover behind a display.

"I'm afraid so." Donnie told him before taking a peak around the wall to find that the Gators were having a hell of a time getting themselves out of the nano-flood to shoot at them again which was probably the only break the turtles were likely to get.

"What can he do with it?" Leo demanded sternly and Donnie turned back to look at him before answering.

" _Anything_!" He said nervously and his brother was about to comment further when he was interrupted.

"There!" Mikey suddenly called and they looked up just in time to see what he was pointing at which turned out to be the exit where they spotted the form of the _theft_ peaking around the corner before bolting for the exit.

"Raph, Donnie take that guy out!" Leo ordered sternly unsheathing his swords as he spoke. "Mikey you're with me." He added before they charged the Gators forcing their enemy's attention on them and giving the other two plenty of room to book it toward the staircase.

Arriving back on the higher level Raph and Donnie were able to avoid slipping on the tile floor with help from the adhesive energy under their feet and quickly located the thief running around a corner up ahead.

Donnie took the lead as his lighter form made him faster than his brother and they skidded around the corner a few seconds after the man. However they quickly discovered the guy was a lot faster than them as they arrived back in the room where they had gotten in only to find the wannabe Gator already halfway up a rope hanging from the ceiling.

And then it got worse, as they started after him again a small swarm of _real_ Gators suddenly appeared from an adjacent hallway forcing Raph into a confrontation. "Go!" He called toward Donnie when he stopped to look back at him. "I got this." He added kicking one of his attacker's into a wall as he parried and head-butted two others at the same time.

Knowing his brother would follow when he could Donnie quickly started up the rope just as the theft made it to the roof and disappeared from sight once again.

…

( _Donnie's POV_ )

I made it to the roof a full second later only to find that my opponent was already two rooftops away and quickly bolted after him.

"Okay this is getting old." I told no one particular several minutes later as I realized the guy was too fast to catch and pointed the tip of my gantlet in his direction to activate a quick attack in the form of a few little darts being ejected in a fan formation to electrify the ground around the thief's feet forcing him to stop.

Though I was finally able to catch him this time it didn't take long for the guy to reverse course and attack me. But I had my staff out and ready to block him before he could connect.

"Who are you?" I demanded as he backed up to try a different angle. "Who do you work for?" Now that I was seeing him fight I could tell right away that he was no Black Gator; however he was no _ninja_ either which eliminated _Shedder_ too. "I don't want to fight you." I added as I blocked another attack.

However he ignored me in favor of dancing around my staff to attack from behind but I dodged again which left him to attempt another escape and bolt for the edge of the roof again.

"No!" I called absentmindedly and tossed a shuriken at his hand forcing him to drop the nano-brain. "I'm sorry." I offered when he gripped his hand in discomfort. "But I _can't_ let you take that." This time I actually received a response but it was in a language that I didn't recognize.

"Should I assume that was an _insult_?" I asked before running to intercept him as he went for the brain again and managed to drop my staff just as he was about to grab it and quickly pulled back causing the little piece of tech to slide away again.

In less than a second he was in my face again forcing me back as he tried to distract me long enough to get to his prize but I kept shuffling it around the roof like a hockey puck just out of his reach.

Unfortunately he didn't seem to be the type to give up easily and suddenly jumped onto my staff where he skillfully flipped over my back and a second later I was greeted with what felt like a _whip_ across my shoulders.

It hurt like hell but I quickly ignored it in favor of dropping the end of my weapon again to pick up the brain and send it flying behind me to collect safely on a higher ledge of the building and at the same time I flipped around to whack him upside the head with the other end thus sending his helmet careening off to the other side of the roof.

As I dropped back into my stance I quickly noticed a _tail_ swish angrily behind him as he crouched to cover his face. 'So he was a _mutant_ ; that explains a lot.' I thought silently taking in that information as the theft stood back to his full height.

'Correction,' I thought again in slight shock. ' _She!_ '

"My bad." I offered with an apologetic grin as she gave me a displeasing glare, however she didn't appear too interested in my apologies as she quickly charged me again and I was forced to take a few steps back as a hand equipped with _claws_ took out the air an inch in front of my face.

The attack held such force behind it that I felt the skin on my cheek split and had to catch myself before I hit the ground as she took advantage of my slight distraction to jump on my shoulder which she used as a springboard to reach the ledge.

Quickly adjusting for my awkward position I used my leg to bring my staff back around and tripped her up again causing her to hit the wall instead as I came up behind to capture her arms in a double-lock hold where she immediately tried to throw the back of her head into my face but I adjusted quickly and forced her to her knees.

"Okay." I said around my deep breathing it'd been a while since I'd had such a workout. "Now let's talk – who are you and what do you want?"

The only answer I received was for her to yell at me in that same foreign language as before but judging from her tone I could guess it had something to do with watching where I put my _hands_.

"Nice try." I told her seriously; as I had kind of expected such a reaction for I was starting to realize that she worked best when there was a _distraction_ and so I'd made sure not to grab her in anyway that would give her cause to rile me. "But you have to get up pretty early in the morning to fool _me_." I added simply before turning to check for any sign of my brother's.

'What the heck were they doing? I could really use their _help_ right about now.'

She didn't respond this time instead she just calmly relaxed her stance and turned to look at me over her shoulder. However when I opened my mouth to speak again she quickly reached out to – _kiss me_.

I immediately sensed a strange taste and a felling like something was being _pulled_ form my throat and promptly pushed her away so I could spit out whatever she had been trying to make me ingest.

"Smart guy huh?" She suddenly asked in perfect English and I looked up as she moved from her crouched position to stand sassily in front of me. "I could use an eye like yours, wanna make some money?" She added with a grin.

"No thanks." I answered as I realized she hadn't been trying to poison me, instead she had just used the kiss as a way to _learn_ my language.

I had to admit that was cool.

"You're not from around here are you?" I added with a raised eye-ridge.

"You _are_ smart." She proclaimed clearly impressed as he placed a hand on her hip. "We could be a good team."

"I already _have_ a team." I informed her sternly and she smiled again.

"Too bad." She said sadly before suddenly charging forward again causing me to hold up my staff as her weight bored down on me again and I quickly realized she was a lot _stronger_ than she looked, but before I could adjust again she back-flipped off my weapon where I received another strike from her tail.

"Ow!" I swore through my teeth as she finally landed on the upper ledge. "Is that _really_ necessary?" I asked sourly rubbing my shoulder which stung like no one's business.

"Sorry Sparky." She commented as I rebounded to the upper level as well and watched as she retrieved the brain again before lifting her left arm to mess with something on her wrist. "It's just business, you understand." She added sugarly and I scoffed disagreeably however before I could answer movement caught my attention in the form of a _little_ _red_ _dot_ on her back.

I really don't know what happened after that, all I knew was instinct took over and I charged in front of the beam. But before I even realized I'd been _hit_ a white-hot laser had pierced my back and exited the other side effectively slowing it down just enough that the theft never even know she was in danger as she turned again to access the threat just in time for a light to suddenly flare from her wrist and everything to disappear.

The End

* * *

Okay – that was a weird way to end part 4 even for me.

Blame the _characters_ they had a mind of their own.

lol

Part 5 coming next Tuesday

"The Bonds We Make"


End file.
